The Champions League proper is nearly back on our screens. With the final round of qualifiers set to conclude this evening, all eyes will be on Monaco’s Grimaldi Forum tomorrow for the league stage draw.
The draw for the league stage will take place tomorrow, Thursday, August 28, in Monaco at 5PM UK time (6PM CEST).
For viewers in the UK, the draw will be broadcast on TNT Sports and in Italy, it will be shown on Sky. Around the world, as well as in the UK and Italy, the draw will also be shown live for free on UEFA’s website.
Inter are the only Italian side in pot one, thanks to their impressive performances over the last four seasons, including reaching the final of the Champions League twice.
Atalanta and Juventus will find themselves in Pot 2 for the draw whilst Napoli, despite winning the Scudetto last season, will start from Pot 3, due to their absence from European competitions last season.
Each team will face two sides from each pot, one at home and one away and teams cannot be drawn against other clubs from the same nation, nor can they be drawn against more than two sides from the same country.
Pot one is, obviously, dangerous, no matter who you get drawn against. Alongside Inter, the first pot consists of PSG, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Barcelona, Manchester City, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund.
However, pot two cannot be underestimated either. Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen posing a serious threat for whoever gets drawn against them.
Pot 1: PSG, Inter, Bayern, Liverpool, Barcelona, Man City, Chelsea, Dortmund
Pot 2: Arsenal, Leverkusen, Atletico, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt
Pot 2 or 3 (subject to qualifiers): Tottenham
Pot 3: PSV, Ajax, Napoli, Sporting, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Bodo/Glimt, Marseille
Pot 4: Monaco, Galatasaray, Union Saint-Gilloise, Athletic Bilbao, Newcastle, Pafos, Almaty
There are also four qualifying matches left to finish for the final spots in the league phase. Qarabag will look to book their place in the competition proper after they took a 1-0 win away from Hungarian side Ferencvaros in the first leg. Basel and Copenhagen and Fenerbahce and Benfica both drew their first leg matches and so all is to play for this evening. Finally, Scottish side Rangers suffered a 3-1 home thrashing by Belgian outfit Club Brugge, leaving the SPFL side with it all to do in Belgium tonight.
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