UEFA Champions League group stage draw: All you need to know

What time is Thursday’s draw? Who is involved? How can I follow it? Get the lowdown.

The UEFA Champions League group stage draw takes place in Monaco

When and where is the draw?

The 2019/20 UEFA Champions League group stage draw ceremony begins at 18:00 CET on Thursday 29 August. It takes place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and will be streamed live on UEFA.com.

Who is involved in the draw?

ESP: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Valencia
ENG: Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur
ITA: Juventus, Napoli, Internazionale Milano, Atalanta
GER: Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig
FRA: Paris, Lyon, LOSC Lille
RUS: Zenit, Lokomotiv Moskva
POR: Benfica
UKR: Shakhtar Donetsk
BEL: Genk
TUR: Galatasaray
AUT: Salzburg

Plus the six winning teams from the play-offs

What are the draw pots?

Only Pot 1 is known in its entirety; the other pots will be confirmed once the final six teams have qualified via the play-offs.

Pot 1
Liverpool (holders)
Chelsea (UEFA Europa League winners)
Barcelona
Manchester City
Juventus
Bayern München
Paris Saint-Germain
Zenit

Clubs’ coefficients are determined either by the sum of all points won in the previous five years or by the association coefficient over the same period – whichever is higher (under a new system introduced for 2018/19 onwards).

How does the draw work?

The 26 teams given direct entry to the group stage under the competition system introduced in 2018/19 are joined by the six winners of the play-off ties.
The teams are split into four seeding pots.

Pot 1 consists of the holders, the UEFA Europa League winners and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations. Pots 2 to 4 are determined by the club coefficient rankings.
No team can play a club from their own association and, based on decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee, clubs from Russia and Ukraine must not be drawn in the same group.

In the case of associations with two or more representatives, clubs will be paired in order to split their matches between Tuesday and Wednesday.

If a paired club is drawn, for example, in Groups A, B, C or D, the other paired club – once drawn – will automatically be assigned to one of Groups E, F, G or H.

The draw also establishes the groups for the UEFA Champions League path of the UEFA Youth League.

UEFA awards

UEFA Men’s Player of the Year: Messi, Ronaldo or Van Dijk?

The following award winners will also be announced during the draw ceremony:

UEFA Men’s Player of the Year
UEFA Women’s Player of the Year
Goalkeeper of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League season
Defender of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League season
Midfielder of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League season
Forward of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League season
Season calendar

17/18 September: group stage, matchday one
1/2 October: group stage, matchday two
22/23 October: group stage, matchday three
5/6 November: group stage, matchday four
26/27 November: group stage, matchday five
10/11 December: group stage, matchday six

16 December: round of 16 draw

18/19/25/26 February: round of 16, first leg
10/11/17/18 March: round of 16, second leg

20 March: quarter-final & semi-final draw

7/8 April: quarter-finals, first leg
14/15 April: quarter-finals, second leg
28/29 April: semi-finals, first leg
5/6 May: semi-finals, second leg

Saturday 30 May: final – Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadı, Istanbul

Culled from: UEFA.com