The Dutch duo will be hoping to avoid the stronger teams in the competition, but the new format has made the draw less predictable. Under the old system, the team that was drawn into pot one would automatically avoid the other top European clubs in that pot. However, the new format sees each team play against eight different opponents, with two from each pot. This means that the team's own pot position does not affect the distribution of opponents.
The first two seasons of the new format have shown that there can be huge differences between clubs within the same pot. For example, Liverpool and RB Leipzig were both in pot one in the 2024/25 season, but there was a 18-point gap between them by the end of the group stage.