Arsenal have been ranked ninth in this years UEFA club coefficient; below Benfica, Schalke and Porto but above Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Champions League finalists Juventus.
The club rankings are determined by a team's performance in the Champions League or Europa League and the performance of the club's football association, so in Arsenal's case this would be the FA. Arsenal have previously been as high as sixth in the rankings but they remain in ninth, the same position they were in this time last year. Arsenal crashed out of the Champions League to Monaco in the round of 16 last season, for the fifth year in a row. The Gunners have exited to Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich in the previous four seasons.
The UEFA coefficient has previously been very important in determining the seedings for the qualifying stages and the group phase of the Champions League and the Europa League. However, with a new seeding system being implemented for the forthcoming season, the coefficient has becoming marginally less important for the North London outfit.
Now, the top seeds in the Champions League group stage are made up of the Champions League winners and the winners of the top seven European leagues. The second, third and fourth seeds will be based on the coefficient, but it is very unlikely that Arsenal will ever drop below second seeds. This means that Arsenal will no longer be among the top seeds next season when the draw is made. They will be among the second seeds, including Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Benfica and potentially Manchester United. The new seeding system could see Arsenal drawn with Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the group stage, with the best case scenario being a draw with Benfica, Russian champions Zenit or Dutch side PSV.