Draws for the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 group stage matches will be held on Thursday, August 26 in Istanbul, Turkey. Former AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko and ex-Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien will present the draw.
As many as 26 teams have already qualified for this season’s UEFA Champions League while six teams will be finalized after the play-offs over the next couple of days.
Teams will be put into four different Pots for the draw. Pot 1 consists of Champions League title holders Chelsea, UEFA Europa League champions Villarreal and the champions from the six highest-ranked nations in Europe.
Teams in Pot 2 to 4 will be based on the UEFA club coefficient rankings, which takes the results of all clubs from each association into account and is used to determine the number of entries granted to an association as well as the club’s seeding in the draw for the forthcoming season.
The likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund are in Pot 2. Teams in the remaining Pots will be finalised after the play-offs.
Pot 1 - Chelsea, Villarreal, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter, Lille, Sporting CP
Pot 2 - Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, PSG, Liverpool, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund
Pot 3 - Porto, Ajax, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Zenit St. Petersburg + three teams
Pot 4 - AC Milan, Wolfsburg, Club Brugge + five teams
UEFA Champions League 2021-22 schedule
Dates for the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 season have already been finalized. The first of the six group stage games will be played on September 14 and 15. The final group stage match will take place on December 7 and 8.
The round of 16 matches will start on February 15 and will run till March 16. Quarter-final matches will begin on April 5, while semi-final matches start from April 26. The final of the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 season will take place at Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia on May 28.
Group stage
Matchday 1: 14-15 September, 2021
Matchday 2: 28-29 September, 2021
Matchday 3: 19-20 October, 2021
Matchday 4: 2-3 November, 2021
Matchday 5: 23-24 November, 2021
Matchday 6: 7-8 December, 2021
Round of 16
First leg: 15-16 February and 22-23 February, 2022
Second leg: 8-9 March and 15-16 March, 2022
Quarter-finals
First leg: 5-6 April, 2022
Second leg: 12-13 April, 2022
Semi-finals
First leg: 26-27 April, 2022
Second leg: 3-4 May, 2022
Final
28 May, 2022
Where to watch the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 group stage draw live in India?
Live streaming of the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 group stage draw will be available on the official UEFA website. The event will start at 9:30 PM IST in India.
Featured photo: AFP / Harold Cunningham
