Wednesday, 24 August 2016

Champions League group stage draw to hold tomorrow




The draw for the group stage of the Champions League takes place at 5 p.m. BST, midday ET on Thursday, Aug. 25.

The 32 teams are separated into four pots. Pot 1 contains the holders (Real Madrid) and the champions of the top 7 leagues, as ranked by UEFA country coefficient.

The remaining three pots are ranked in order of UEFA team coefficient, which is based on a club's performance in the Champions League and the Europa League over the past five years. The eight highest-ranked teams will be in pot 2, the next eight in pot 3 and lowest-ranked eight in pot 4.

No team can play a club from their own association. CSKA Moscow and Dynamo Kiev cannot be drawn in the same group for political reasons.

FC Basel can only be ranked in pot 2 if Manchester City lose in the playoff round. Celtic need three of Man City, Ajax, Salzburg and Borussia Monchengladbach to lose to move up to pot 3 from pot 4. AS Monaco would need all four to lose to do the same.

The draw ceremony also includes the 2015-16 UEFA Best Player in Europe awards for men and women.

TEAMS TO ENTER IN GROUP STAGE

Seeded Pot 1: Real Madrid (holders), Barcelona, Leicester City, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, PSG, CSKA Moscow

Pot 2: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Sevilla, Porto, Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen +1

Pot 3: Tottenham Hotspur, Dynamo Kiev, Lyon, PSV Eindhoven, Sporting CP, Club Brugge + 2

Pot 4: Besiktas, Legia Warsaw, Ludogorets Razgrad +5

Pot to be determined: FC Basel, Celtic, AS Monaco.

GROUP STAGE MATCHDAYS
September 13, 14
September 27, 28
October 18, 19
November 1, 2
November 22, 23
December 6, 7

Round of 16 draw: Monday, Dec. 12.

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