All is set for this season’s Champions League group stage draw, which will be held today from 5pm WAT in Monaco.
Holders, Real Madrid, winners of the competition in three of the last four seasons, alongside champions of the rest of Europe’s top ranked leagues find themselves in pot one of the draw.
The remaining pots, 2-4, are determined by UEFA club coefficient for the participating teams, as of the end of the past season.
For Premier League, Manchester United and neighbors, Manchester City are in pot 2, with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur finding themselves in pot 3, while PL champions, Chelsea, are in pot one.
Here is the complete list of how teams were seeded:
Pot 1: Real Madrid; Bayern Munich; Juventus; Benfica; Chelsea; Shakhtar Donetsk; AS Monaco; Spartak Moskva
Pot 2: Barcelona; Atletico Madrid; Paris Saint-Germain; Borussia Dortmund; Sevilla; Manchester United; Manchester City; Porto
Pot 3: Napoli; Tottenham Hotspur; Olympiacos; Basel; Anderlecht; Liverpool; AS Roma; Besiktas
Pot 4: Celtic; CSKA Moskva; Sporting CP; Apoel; Feyenoord; Maribor; Qarabag; RB Leipzig
Rules of Today’s Draw:
- No team will face a club from their own association/nation.
- Teams from Ukraine and Russia cannot be drawn against each other, following a decision by UEFA’s Executive Committee.
- The draw also means the UEFA Youth League will follow similar path as that of the Champions League.
The draw isn’t the only event taking place today, as the European governing body, UEFA has confirmed it will be handing out certain awards to individuals today, too.
Some of these awards are; Player of the Year for Men and Women, goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward of the year for the 2016/2017 Champions League season.
The group stage of the 2017/2018 season will commence on the week starting from 12-13 September, 2017.
Get in the conversation: Which teams would you love to see your favorite club draw in today’s draw?
