I was just looking at Aston Villa's fixtures and wondering why they weren't playing anyone that actually won their leagues. So I checked out the pots, and noticed they've quietly got rid of the rule that if you win one of the top leagues, you're automatically in pot 1.
Pot 1 included us, Real Madrid, Inter and PSG, who actually won their leagues. Meanwhile, 3 German teams are in pot 1, none of which won the title, while Leverkusen at in pot 2. Liverpool are somehow in pot 1 for finishing 3rd, when they weren't even in the competition last season, and Barcelona complete the top seeds after winning absolutely fuck all last season. Meanwhile, the German champions and Europa League winners are in pot 2, and the Portuguese champions (Sporting) are in pot 3 behind a team that finished 10 points behind them (Benfica). So only 4 of the 'top-ranked' teams actually won anything last season.
If there was any doubt this whole thing was about favouring established teams, it's basically a return to the bullshit seeding system of the past, where big clubs from the big leagues will be given an easy ride regardless of their actual performance on the pitch.