The 2021/22 Champions League group stage draw begins shortly with UEFA officials in Istanbul.
After several rounds of qualifying that began in late June, the group stage signifies the real start of the competition, with 32 clubs now vying to be crowned European champions come May.
The draw follows the usual procedure for this stage of the Champions League. The 32 teams involved are split into four pots of eight. Pot one is reserved for the holders of both European trophies and the reigning champions of Europe’s top six domestic leagues.
The remaining pots are determined by UEFA’s club coefficient rankings, with one team from each pot to be drawn into each group, lettered A-H, while keeping apart those from the same country.
2021/22 Champions League group stage draw
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Group A:
Group B:
Group C:
Group D:
Group E:
Group F:
Group G:
Group H:
Remaining clubs yet to be drawn
Pot 1: Chelsea, Villarreal, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter, Lille OSC, Sporting CP
Pot 2: Real Madrid, Barcelona, ââJuventus, Manchester United, PSG, Liverpool, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund
Pot 3: FC Porto, Ajax, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Zenit St. Petersburg, Benfica, RB Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk
Pot 4: AC Milan, VfL Wolfsburg, Club Brugge, Besiktas, Dynamo Kyiv, Young Boys, Malmo, Sheriff Tiraspol
The first round of matches will be played shortly on 14/15 September. Each club will play the usual six games in total, home and away once each against every other side in their group, with the sixth and final matchday scheduled for 7/8 December.
The top two clubs in each group will progress to the next round and the draw for the first knockout stage will be made on 13 December. The knockout action will then begin in mid-February.
This season’s Champions League final will be played in Saint Petersburg on Saturday 28 May 2022.
Changes this season mean that UEFA have also abolished the longstanding away goals rules across all three European competitions that has been in place since 1996.
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This article was originally published on 90min as 2021/22 Champions League group stage draw - live.
Source: www.90min.com