That's my totally clear recollection too.
Gather Round, I thought it clearly at the time and the memory has stuck in my mind like a lot of things over the years from following the BIG. I've no reason whatsoever to make it up.
I've no idea whether it was based on rankings or not, but it was 100% obvious that the 4 teams UEFA wanted in the finals were kept apart and drawn away from home first in the draw. There was broad consensus in the media who the 4 "seeds" would be.
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