Champions League Group Stage Draw: Date, Time, How to Watch & Confirmed Pots for Premier League Clubs - originally posted on Sportslens...
Champions League Group Stage Draw: Date, Time, How to Watch & Confirmed Pots for Premier League Clubs - originally posted on Sportslens.com
The group stage of the 2020/21 Champions League will get underway during October, with 32 teams dreaming of progressing to the final in Turkey.
Reigning champions Bayern Munich are amongst the favourites to win the competition once again, but history has shown that it is never easy to defend the trophy.
Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea will represent the Premier League, and each club will fancy their chances of having a major impact on the tournament.
City were the only English club to reach the quarter-finals last season, with Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur all crashing out in the round of 16.
The likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus will also be keen to improve on disappointing showings in the competition last time around.
This season’s final will be played at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on May 29 and is sure to attract a massive audience on Champions League live streaming services.
However, before we can think about who will lift the trophy, the groups will need to be decided for the opening phase and the draw is just around the corner.
Champions League Draw: Date and Time
The group stage draw will take place on Thursday, October 1, at 5.00 pm UK time. It will be held at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
The teams will be seeded and there will also be country protection, meaning that clubs from the same domestic competition cannot be drawn together in the same group.
Champions League Draw: TV Channel and Live Stream
BT Sport own the exclusive rights to broadcasting the Champions League in the United Kingdom and will be screening the entire draw live.
UEFA will also be providing a free live stream on their official website, while numerous other online streaming sites will have coverage of the draw.
Champions League Draw: Teams Involved
Liverpool are the only Premier League team in Pot 1, with City, United and Chelsea all in a rather strong looking second pot.
Most major tournaments throw up at least one ‘Group of Death’ and this season’s Champions League will probably be no different in that respect.
For instance, a group of Liverpool, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Borussia Monchengladbach would undoubtedly provide plenty of fireworks.
However, a line-up of Porto, Manchester City, Club Brugge and Rennes would probably please fans of the Premier League club.
Pot 1
Bayern Munich
Sevilla
Real Madrid
Liverpool
Juventus
Paris Saint-Germain
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Porto
Pot 2
Barcelona
Atletico Madrid
Manchester City
Manchester United
Shakhtar Donetsk
Borussia Dortmund
Chelsea
Ajax
Pot 3
Dynamo Kyiv or Gent
RB Leipzig
Inter Milan
Lazio
Atalanta
Pot 3 or 4
Red Bull Salzburg or Maccabi Tel Aviv
Olympiakos or Omonia
Krasnodar or PAOK
Lokomotiv Moscow
Marseille
Club Brugge
Pot 4
Borussia Monchengladbach
Istanbul Basaksehir
Rennes
Slavia Prague or Midtjylland
Molde or Ferencvaros
Champions League 2020/21 Group Stage Schedule
The group stage matchdays are October 20-21, October 27-28, November 3-4, November 24-25, December 1-2 and December 8-9.
Champions League 2020/21 Preview
Bayern are strongly fancied to retain the Champions League trophy, although they may find it difficult to secure back-to-back successes.
Real Madrid’s three successive wins between 2016 and 2018 showed that it can be done, but they were the first team to defend the title since AC Milan in 1990.
Man City are challenging Bayern for favouritism in the outright betting market and they should be capable of progressing to the latter stages of the competition.
However, at the current odds, Juventus look well worth an interest given that this will probably be Cristiano Ronaldo’s last chance of lifting the trophy.
It would also be foolish to underestimate Barca’s chances as they strive to bounce back from a miserable 2019/20 campaign.
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