The European football season begins from 20 October, when the group stage for the campaign 2020/21 will kick-off the European season. But before the UCL starts, first is the UCL group stage draw which will take place tonight.
UEFA is hoping that the regular format of the Champions League will be followed but in a shortened format.
This season’s European campaign starts a month later than normal since last season was not finished until the middle of August, but UEFA is optimistic about finishing the group stage by the second week of December before moving on to the knockout stage as usual once the January’s transfer window is closed.
Originally, Athens was scheduled to hold both the Champions League and Europa League group stage draws in early October. However, following the worsening of the situation in Greece and the implementation of steps to curtail tourists from abroad, UEFA has agreed to go back to Switzerland, where Swiss TV Studios in Geneva is the venue for the draw.
How does UEFA Champions League Draw work?
The 32 clubs in this campaign are separated into 4 pots for the UEFA Champions League group stage draw. Pot 1 is made up of winner of the UEFA Champions League, winners of the UEFA Europa League and the top six nation’s champion clubs. The teams for Pot 2 to Pot 4 are determined by the basis of club coefficient rankings.
Teams in the Draw:
- 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, Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig, Inter Milan, Olympiacos, Lazio, Krasnodar, Atalanta
- Pot 4: Lokomotiv Moscow, Marseille, Club Brugge, Borussia Monchengladbach, Istanbul Basaksehir, Rennes, Ferencvaros.
When to Watch UEFA Champions League Draw in India?
The UEFA Champions League draw will begin at 8:30 PM Indian Standard Time. Along with the UCL group stage draw, awards such as the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year, UEFA Women’s Player of the Year and UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year amongst others will be announced as well.
How to Watch UEFA Champions League Draw in India?
The UEFA official web site can be used by anyone interested in watching the UCL draw live stream. The same can be seen in Sony Ten 2 and Sony Ten 2 HD for fans who want to watch the UEFA Champions League draw live in television.