UEFA Champions League 2020/21 Group Stage Draw: Date, Where to Watch, How it Works, Teams & Match Dates

Liverpool, Chelsea and the Manchester clubs will learn their UEFA Champions League fates on Thursday afternoon, in the draw for the group stages of the tournament.

The glossy event will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, at 16:00 BST, although managers and club officials will this time have to watch from afar as the balls are pulled from the bowl.

Liverpool are in Pot 1, while the rest of the English contingent are in Pot 2; this means they will be hoping to avoid holders Bayern Munich and big hitters Real Madrid, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, while Atalanta, Inter and RB Leipzig lurk in Pot 3.

Bayern are the current holders / David Ramos/Getty Images

While these draws could be completed in a matter of minutes, the ceremony is usually a drawn-out affair with plenty of pomp and... ceremony.

So, blocking out all that noise, here is what you actually need to know.

Where to Watch

The draw will be streamed live on UEFA's official website, or you can watch it on BT Sport 1 from 15:45 if you're more old school.

How Does the Draw Work?

The 26 who qualified directly for the group stage will be joined by the six winners of the playoff ties.

The teams will be split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 consists of the holders, the Europa League winners and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations who did not qualify via one of the 2019/20 titles - England, Spain, Italy, France, Russia and Portugal . Pots 2 to 4 are determined by the club coefficient rankings.

Last year's draw - with an audience / Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

No team can play a club from their own association, with the exact draw procedure to be confirmed before the ceremony.

Teams

Pot 1:

Bayern (GER), UEFA Champions League holders
Sevilla (ESP), UEFA Europa League holders
Real Madrid (ESP)
Liverpool (ENG)
Juventus (ITA)
Paris (FRA)
Zenit (RUS)
Porto (POR)

Pot 2:

Barcelona (ESP) coefficient 128.000
Atletico de Madrid (ESP) 127.000
Manchester City (ENG) 116.000
Manchester United (ENG) 100.000
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 85.000
Dortmund (GER) 85.000
Chelsea (ENG) 83.000
Ajax (NED) 69.500

The Champions League is back, baby / Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images

Pot 3 or 4:

Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)* 55.000
RB Leipzig (GER) 49.000
Internazionale Milano (ITA) 44.000
Olympiacos (GRE)* 43.000
Lazio (ITA) 41.000
Atalanta (ITA) 35.500
Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS) 33.000
Marseille (FRA) 31.000
Club Brugge (BEL) 28.500
Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) 26.000
İstanbul Başakşehir (TUR) 21.500
Rennes (FRA) 14.000
Ferencváros (HUN)* 9.000

*Qualified via the play-offs; three more to follow on Wednesday.

Group Stage Matchdays

Matchday 1: 20/21 October

Matchday 2: 27/28 October

Matchday 3: 3/4 November

Matchday 4: 24/25 November

Matchday 5: 1/2 December

Matchday 6: 8/9 December