By: Aparajita Patel
UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw, Live Streaming Information, Teams, Format, and Time in IST: Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus will compete in this year’s Champions League while also battling UEFA in court for the right to hold a rival competition. Meanwhile, when the groups begin on September 14-15, seven-time champion AC Milan will play its first Champions League game since March 2014.
Among the top-seeded clubs, there are a few teams with unusually low rankings. The Champions League and Europa League champions, as well as the winners of the six highest-ranked domestic leagues, are accorded top status.
That means Lille, despite being the lowest-ranked team in the draw, is among the top seeds, exactly as it was two years ago when it lost five of its six games. Villarreal, the winner of the Europa League, and Sporting, the Portuguese champion, are both ranked low.
The pot of second-seeded clubs, on the other hand, is stacked with European champions as well as the superstars of Paris Saint-Germain, including Lionel Messi. In Pot 2, UEFA ranks Borussia Dortmund, the lowest-ranked team based on European results during 2016, higher than half of the top seeds.
The Champions League draw will feature a new Sheriff on Thursday, allowing Moldova to compete in the group stage for the first time with dissident clubs that attempted to form their own elite breakaway. Sheriff moved to the next round of the playoffs with a 0-0 draw at Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday, after winning 3-0 in the first leg last week.
SEEDING POTS
Pot 1: Chelsea, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Lille OSC and Sporting CP
Pot 2: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund
Pot 3: Porto, Ajax, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk
Pot 4: Besiktas, Dynamo Kyiv, Club Brugge, Young Boys, AC Milan, Wolfsburg, Malmö, Sheriff Tiraspol
When will the group stage draw for the UEFA Champions League be held?
The group stage draw will take place in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, at 9:30 p.m. IST on Thursday, August 26.
How can I watch the live group stage draw games?
The UCL 2021-22 group stage draw will be broadcast live in India on Sony Network. The draw for the UCL group stage will be broadcast live on Sony Ten 2 and Sony Ten 2 HD.
The matches can also be seen live on SonyLiv or the official UEFA website.
When are the group matches going to be held?
On September 14, the upcoming group stage draws will begin.
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