The Champions League trophy

Champions League group stage draw: All you need to know about the Champions League draw including how it works, seedings and TV times

By Sporting Life

Football

Thu August 29, 2019 · 6y ago

Get all you need to know about the Champions League draw including how it works, how the big teams have been seeded and TV times.

There will be 32 teams in the hat for the UEFA Champions League group-stage draw.

When is the draw?

It takes place on Thursday, Aug. 29 in Monaco. The draw ceremony is expected to begin at 5pm BST.

How does the Champions league draw work?

Teams are placed into one of four pots based on their coefficient ranking and other criteria such as winning the Champions League of Europa League – both of who will be in pot 1.

One team from each pot is then selected for eight groups of four, with teams from the same country not allowed to be in the same group.

Who could the English teams face?

They cannot face each other at this stage, and although Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City are all in pot one that doesn't really give them too much of an advantage given some of the names in pot two this season.

Spurs are in pot two though and with three English sides in there it really narrows down their options, so they'll be praying Zenit St Petersburg come out instead of Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern or PSG.

For the top seeds, Real Madrid are lurking in pot two alongside Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund - while Napoli showed last season they were no pushovers as they almost knocked Liverpool out in the group stages. Shakhtar and Benfica are the teams to pull out here.

Ajax could yet be the wildcards as they will be in pot two if they make it through qualifying - such are the vagaries of the current system UEFA uses for seeding teams.

The English sides will fancy their chances against anyone in the last two pots but Inter Milan may be the jokers in the pack here, with Conte, Lukaku and Sanchez familiar faces that ruffle a few English feathers.

As we've seen previously though, European nights away at hostile environments such as Galatasaray, Olympiakos and even Red Star Belgrade can provide a real test.

Who will be seeded?

Holders Liverpool will join Europa League winners Chelsea among the eight seeded teams in pot one, while Tottenham are in pot two alongside some huge European names such as Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Pots three and four are yet to be fully confirmed with qualifying games still to be played on Wednesday night.

Pot 1: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich, PSG, Zenit St Petersburg

Pot 2: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar, Tottenham, Benfica.

Pot 2 or 3: Lyon.

Pot 3: Bayer Leverkusen, RB Salzburg, Valencia, Inter, Dinamo Zagreb, Olympiakos.

Pot 3 or 4: Lokomotiv Moskow, Genk.

Pot 4: Galatasaray, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Lille, Red Star Belgrade.

When will the Champions League group games be played?

Matchday 1: Sep. 17-18
Matchday 2: Oct. 1-2
Matchday 3: Oct. 22-23
Matchday 4: Nov. 5-6
Matchday 5: Nov. 26-27
Matchday 6: Dec. 10-11

Champions League key dates

Match day one: September 17/18
Match day two: October 1/2
Match day three: October 22/23
Match day four: November 5/6
Match day five: November 26/27
Match day six: December 10/11
Last 16 draw: December 16
Round of 16 first leg: February 18/19 and 25/26
Round of 16 second leg: March 10/11 and 17/18
Quarter-final and semi-final draw: March 20
Quarter-final first leg: April 7/8
Quarter-final second leg: April 14/15
Semi-final first leg: April 28/29
Semi-final second leg: May 5/6
Final: May 30

When and where is the 2019/20 Champions League final?

It’s a return to Istanbul for this season’s final on Saturday May 30. With the Ataturk Stadium being selected as host venue – which of course is the ground Liverpool famous won the 2005 Champions league final in that thrilling comeback against AC Milan.