The 32 teams in this season’s Champions League will discover their fate on Thursday, with the seeding pots for the group-stage draw now set.
The draw will take place at the House of European Football, UEFA’s headquarters, on the shore of Lake Geneva starting from 4 p.m. BST, 11 a.m. ET. UEFA will also announce the award winners for the 2019-20 season in a ceremony that has been scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Champions League holders Bayern Munich are top seeded, along with Europa League winners Sevilla FC. They are joined in Pot 1 by the champions of the top six leagues, namely Real Madrid, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Zenit St Petersburg. FC Porto are promoted to Pot 1 as Bayern won the Bundesliga title and did not require the slot.
The other three pots are ranked based on UEFA’s five-year coefficient of performance in European competition.
Pot 1: Bayern Munich, Sevilla, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Juventus, PSG, Zenit St Petersburg, FC Porto
Pot 2: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Shakhtar Donetsk, Chelsea, Ajax
Pot 3: Dynamo Kiev, FC Salzburg, RB Leipzig, Internazionale, Olympiakos, Lazio, Krasnodar, Atalanta
Pot 4: Lokomotiv Moscow, Marseille, Club Brugge, Borussia Monchengladbach, Istanbul Basaksehir, FC Midtjylland, Stade Rennes, Ferencvaros
The teams will be drawn into eight groups of four teams, with no more than one from each country. Clubs from Ukraine and Russia cannot be drawn against each other due to political reasons.
The top two will go through to the UCL knockout rounds, with third place dropping into the Europa League round of 32.
The group stage begins on Oct. 20 and 21 and will be played over six midweeks through to Dec. 9, with the final in Turkey at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul on May 29.
With three English clubs in Pot 2, it means Liverpool will have to draw one of Barcelona, Atletico, Dortmund, Shakhtar or Ajax in their group.