The 2019-20 UEFA Champions League is set to kick off next month, but before the competition starts, all the teams involved need to know where they will be traveling to in the Group Stage of the tournament.
This edition of Europe's most followed club competition had a bit of a makeover, with a number of teams that don't belong to the top 5 leagues in Europe being forced to fight for their spot in the tournament by starting in the qualifying rounds. For instance, Portuguese giants FC Porto will not feature in this edition of the UEFA Champions League after losing their qualifying match against Krasnodar. Dynamo Kiyv, FC Kobenhavn and Basel suffered the same fate in that same stage.
This will be the first time in history in which three Premier League teams are included in Pot 1 of the competition, with Liverpool (UCL winners), Chelsea (UEFA Europa League holders) and Manchester City (Premier League champions) sharing that honor. 13-time UEFA CL winners Real Madrid were left out of Pot 1 due to their failure to win any tournaments last season.
Here's all you need to know about the UEFA Champions League draw for the 2019-20 season.
What are the four pots?
Pot 1: Liverpool, Juventus, Bayern München, Zenit, Barcelona, Manchester City, PSG, Chelsea.
Pot 2: Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham Hotspur, Ajax, Benfica.
Pot 3: Olympique Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Salzburg, Olympiakos, Club Brugge, Valencia, Inter Milan, Dinamo Zagreb.
Pot 4: Lokomotiv, Genk, Galatasaray, RB Leipzig, Slavia Prague, Red Star Belgrade, Atalanta, Lille.
Teams are ranked by their club coefficients, which is determined by the sum of all points won in the previous five years, or by the association coefficient in the same period, with the highest one being the one considered.
2019-20 UEFA Champions League draw rules
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Not all teams can be paired up together right from the start. Here is the criteria used by UEFA to draw all eight groups in the UEFA Champions League.
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Twenty-six teams are given direct entry to the competition. The six remaining spots are allocated to the winners of the UEFA Champions League Qualifying rounds.
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All teams will be divided into four pots, which include eight teams each. Pot 1 includes the six champions of the six highest-ranked countries. The two remaining spots go to the UEFA CL holders and the UEFA Europa League winners. The rest of the pots are determined by UEFA's club coefficient system.
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No team can play a club from their same association in the group stage of the tournament.
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Teams from Ukraine and Russia can't be paired up against each other in the group stage.
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Associations with two or more teams involved in the tournament will be split to play on Tuesday and Wednesday to favor TV coverage.
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The draw will also establish the groups for the UEFA Youth League.
Key dates for the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League
Matchday 1: September 17-18.
Matchday 2: October 1-2.
Matchday 3: October 22-23.
Matchday 4: November 5-6.
Matchday 5: November 26-27.
Matchday 6: December 10-11.
Round of 16 draw: December 16.
Round of 16: February 18-26, 2020 (first leg); March 10-18 (second leg).
Quarter final and semi-final draw: March 20.
Quarter finals: April 7-8 (first leg); April 14-15 (second leg).
Semi-finals: April 28-29 (first leg); May 5-6 (second leg).
UEFA Champions League Final: May 30, 2019, at Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey.
Where can I watch the 2019-29 UEFA Champions League draw live?
In the U.S.: B/R Live.
In the U.K.: BT Sport 2, BT Sport Live.
In Spain: Movistar Liga de Campeones, Movistar+, Eurosport Player Spain, Esport3, Eurosport Spain.
In Portugal: Eurosport Portugal.
In France: Eurosport Player France, Eurosport France.
In Germany: Sky Go, DAZN, TeleClub Sport Live, Sky Sport News HD, Eurosport, Eurosport Player.
In the Netherlands: Eurosport Netherlands, Ziggo Sport Voetbal.
In Italy: DAZN, Eurosport Italy, Sky Sport Collection, SKY Go Italia, Sky Sport Football.
In Canada: DAZN.
In Argentina: ESPN Play Sur.
In Brazil: TNT Brazil, Esporte Interativo Plus, TNT Go.
In Mexico: ESPN Play Norte, ESPN2 Norte, FOX Play Norte, Fox Sports Cono Norte.
In Australia: Optus Sport.
In Japan: DAZN.
International broadcast: UEFA TV and YouTube (geo-restrictions may apply).
Match details, result and original broadcast info
UEFA Champions League Group Stages Draw
August 29, 2019 11:30amThis match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
