
The UEFA Champions League group stage draw takes place on Thursday at 18:00CET, streamed live in UEFA DrawCentre, which will have all the build-up from Monaco and across Europe.
Which teams are in which pots?
Pot 1 consists of the holders (Real Madrid) and the champions of the top-seven ranked nations at the end of 2014/15 (when the 2016/17 access list was set).
Pot 1: Real Madrid (ESP, holders), Barcelona (ESP), Leicester City (ENG), Bayern München (GER), Juventus (ITA), Benfica (POR), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), CSKA Moscow (RUS)
The remaining three pots are decided by each team’s UEFA club coefficient as of the end of last season.
The below teams are confirmed in their pot:
Pot 2: Atlético Madrid (ESP), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Arsenal (ENG), Sevilla (ESP), Napoli (ITA), Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Pot 3: Dynamo Kyiv (UKR), Lyon (FRA), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Sporting CP (POR)
Pot 4: Beşiktaş (TUR)
The following teams are confirmed in the group stage but will only discover their pot after the play-offs end on Wednesday
Pot 2 or 3: Basel (SUI), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Basel will be in Pot 2 if either Manchester City or Porto are knocked out in the play-offs. Spurs will be in Pot 2 if both City and Porto are knocked out.
Pot 3 or 4: Club Brugge (BEL)
The remaining ten slots will be confirmed after the play-offs.
Do seedings matter? We investigate …
DRAW PROCEDURE
No team can play a club from their own association, with the exact draw procedure to be confirmed before the ceremony.
Following a decision by the UEFA Executive Committee, Ukrainian and Russian teams cannot be drawn against each other.
The draw also establishes the groups for the UEFA Champions League path of the UEFA Youth League.
The draw ceremony includes the vote for and presentation of the 2015/16 UEFA Best Player in Europe Awards for men and women.
All details subject to final confirmation of UEFA after the play-offs
When are the draws?
25/08/16: Group stage
12/12/16: Round of 16
17/03/17: Quarter-finals
21/04/17: Semi-finals
When are the matches?
13–14/09/16: Group stage, matchday one
27–28/09/16: Group stage, matchday two
18–19/10/16: Group stage, matchday three
01–02/11/16: Group stage, matchday four
22–23/11/16: Group stage, matchday five
06–07/12/16: Group stage, matchday six
14–15/02/17 and 21–22/02/17: Round of 16, first leg
07–08/03/17 and 14–15/03/17: Round of 16, second leg
11–12/04/17: Quarter-finals, first leg
18–19/04/17: Quarter-finals, second leg
02–03/05/17: Semi-finals, first leg
09–10/05/17: Semi-finals, second leg
03/06/17: Final (National Stadium of Wales, Cardiff)
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