THE Champions League is back as four England clubs, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City wait to see who they will face in the group stages.
Chelsea are the reining champions, having beat City in the final last season, but the Blues could land themselves in this year’s group of death
- Start time: 5pm BST
- TV/Live stream: BT Sport 1
- Pot 1: Chelsea, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich, Inter, Lille, Sporting
- Pot 2: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Man Utd, PSG, Liverpool, Sevilla, Dortmund
- Pot 3: Porto, Ajax, Atalanta, Leipzig, Zenit, Benfica, Shakhtar, RB Salzburg
- Pot 4: Club Brugge, Young Boys, AC Milan, Malmo, Wolfsburg, Sheriff Tiraspol, Besiktas, Dynamo Kiev
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Follow ALL the action with our live blog below…
When is the Champions League group stage draw?
- The Champions League draw will be held on Thursday, August 26 – TODAY.
- It will commence at 5pm UK time – 6pm CET and 7pm in Turkey.
- The draw is being held in Istanbul.
HERE WE GO!
HOSTS PEDRO PINTO AND LAURA WONTORRA ARE ON THE STAGE!
BIG NAMES
Some big names have arrived for the draw, including former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich star Hamit Altıntop.
We’re moments away from the draw getting underway.
Credit: GETTY IMAGES RON TOP
All-time Champions League top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo COULD be on his way to Manchester City from Juventus.
The 36-year-old legendary attacker could be picked up for less than £30million due to his age.
But his goals are priceless.
The Portugal captain has scored 134 goals in the competition, leading fellow legendary attacker Lionel Messi by 14 goals.
RED DEVILS
Take a trip down memory lane at some of Manchester United’s previous Champions League draws.
Man Utd’s best and worst Champions League group stage draws including nightmare clash against Bayern MunichHALF AN HOUR TO GO
We’re half an hour away from the draw getting underway.
Awards will be presented this afternoon as well.
Awards will be handed out to the best goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward from las season’s men’s and women’s Champions League competitions.
Credit: GETTY IMAGES CREATOR IN CHIEF
Juan Cuadrado finished last season with the most assists in the competition (6).
The Juventus wing-back has been terrific both defensively and in the final third.
WHO CAN’T PLAY WHO
Zenit cannot be drawn with Dynamo, keeping Russian and Ukrainian teams apart due to tension between the two nations.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
If you’re wondering when the fixtures will be played, we’ve got you covered.
Matchday 1, 14/15 September
Matchday 2, 28/29 September
Matchday 3, 19/20 October
Matchday 4, 2/3 November
Matchday 5, 23/24 November
Matchday 6, 7/8 December
BLUES BACK ON TOP
Thomas Tuchel guided Chelsea to Champions League glory in his first season at the club.
And managed the team in their Super Cup final win against Villarreal.
But the German wants his team to use their success to propel them to more titles.
He said: “We want to win, we want to compete and of course we want to be successful.
“This is in Chelsea’s nature and of course we are up for the challenge.
“We will try to compete for every title in every competition we enter but I also think it will be a huge step forward if we can maintain the same quality, attitude and effort that we showed last season.”
HAALLELUJAH
Erling Haaland finished top goalscorer in last season’s competition with ten goals.
Borussia Dortmund bowed out in the quarter-finals, but the Norwegian wonderkid still came out on top.
POT FOUR
Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol are in Pot four!
- Besiktas (TUR)
- Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
- Club Brugge (BEL)
- Young Boys (SUI)
- AC Milan (ITA)
- Malmo (SWE)
- Wolfsburg (GER)
- Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA)
POT THREE
Fairly stacked Pot three too!
- Porto (POR)
- Ajax (NED)
- Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
- Leipzig (GER)
- Salzburg (AUT)
- Benfica (POR)
- Atalanta (ITA)
- Zenit (RUS)
POT TWO
Liverpool, 2019 Champions League winners, are in Pot two.
Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, who up until last season dominated their divisions, are also in Pot two.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United also find themselves in Pot two.
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona are in the same pot.
- Real Madrid (ESP)
- Barcelona (ESP)
- Juventus (ITA)
- Manchester United (ENG)
- Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
- Liverpool (ENG)
- Sevilla (ESP)
- Borussia Dortmund (GER)
POT ONE
Last year’s winners Chelsea are in Pot one as they look to defend their European crown.
Defending Premier League champions Manchester City are also in Pot one, they made the final last year.
Europa League winners Villarreal find themselves in the top pot too, alongside defending LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid.
- Chelsea (ENG)
- Villarreal (ESP)
- Bayern (GER)
- Manchester City (ENG)
- Atletico de Madrid (ESP)
- Inter Milan (ITA)
- Sporting CP (POR)
- LOSC Lille (FRA)
GOOD AFTERNOON
And welcome to the live blog for the 2021/22 Champions League Group Stage draw!
All 32 teams will be divided into four pots containing eight teams each.
A name from each pot will be drawn for each of Group A through Group H.
All four English teams will be in Pot one and two.
Premier League champions Manchester City are in Pot one together with the defending European champions Chelsea, while Manchester United and Liverpool have been seeded in Pot two.
The draw is set to get underway at 5pm so get comfy and enjoy all of the pre-draw build-up!
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
