Champions League draw: Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs and Man City learn 2019 Uefa group stage fate

The Premier League sides will be relatively pleased as they look to build on recent success on the continent

Liverpool lift Champions League trophy after beating Spurs in Madrid

Join us for LIVE coverage from Monte-Carlo, Monaco where the draw for the group stage of the 2019/20 Champions League has taken place.

Defending champions Liverpool have been drawn against Napoli, FC Salzburg and Genk in Group E while Premier League champions Manchester City will face Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb and Atalanta in Group C.

Group H sees Chelsea drawn with Ajax, Valencia and Lille while Tottenham Hotspur take on five-time European champions Bayern Munich and Olympiakos and Crvena Zvezda in Group B.

Champions League 2019/20 group stage draw preview:

When and where is the Champions League draw?

The draw will take place in Monaco on Thursday, August 29.

Expect proceedings should get underway at around 5pm.

How can I watch the draw?

The draw will be available to watch for free on Uefa’s official website with a live stream, while BT Sport will provide coverage and analysis across their platforms.

Alternatively Independent Football will have you covered with a live blog to follow on the move or at work.

Key dates

The play-offs will take place on August 20-21 and 27-28.

Matchday one of the group stage will take place on September 17-18.

Key Points

• Champions Liverpool drawn with Napoli, Salzburg and Genk in Group E
• Man City travel to Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb and Atalanta in Group C
• Chelsea face semi-finalists Ajax, Valencia and Lille in Group H
• Tottenham drawn with Bayern Munich, Olympiakos and Crvena Zvezda in Group B
• Eric Cantona accepts Uefa president's award with bizarre speech

[29 August 2019 11:45 · Samuel Lovett]

Klopp talks down Liverpool's title chances

 

Jurgen Klopp thinks Liverpool face a daunting task in their bid to retain the Champions League title this season given the "crazy" depth of quality in the competition.

Klopp has led Liverpool to back-to-back Champions League finals but is adamant that their recent track record does not make them the title favourites.

"I will have no problem with it (reaching the final) if it happens again, but at this moment I am not too sure it will," the German said. "We have the same chance like everyone else, but that is all, and I don't see us, the English teams, dominating. I really think a lot of teams have a good chance."

Liverpool are among the top seeds in Pot One along with Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain and Zenit St Petersburg for the Champions League group stage draw.

The quality of teams in the second pot - which includes Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund - have convinced Klopp there is no need to change the format of the competition when the current cycle ends in 2024.

"I don't think there was ever a stronger Pot Two. It is just crazy," the German added. "They should all be in Pot One, but there is not enough space there.”

[29 August 2019 12:02 · Samuel Lovett]

Premier League fans want improved Uefa finals experience

Fans of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have together submitted a list of demands to Uefa after numerous complaints following the Champions League and Europa League finals last season.

A joint statement by Arsenal Supporters' Trust, Chelsea Supporters' Trust, Spirit of Shankly and Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust covers various problems such as inadequate ticket allocations and inconvenient travel arrangements.

"We have drawn up a six-point action plan to improve the supporter experience," the statement read. "It has been referred to the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) and Football Supporters Europe (FSE). We now call on Uefa to engage in meaningful dialogue with supporters and address these points."

The clubs' supporters called for an 80% allocation of tickets to be made available to the finalists after Liverpool and Spurs were allocated only 16,613 tickets each for the Champions League showpiece at Atletico Madrid's 68,000-seat Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

Suggestions were also made to choose stadiums with a minimum capacity of 60,000 for the Europa League final and 75,000 for the Champions League final, helping to keep ticket prices affordable.

Arsenal and Chelsea fans struggled to get to Baku for the Europa League showpiece due to a lack of direct flights to Azerbaijan's capital. Supporters asked Uefa to pick cities with good connectivity and the capacity to deal with thousands of visitors.

[29 August 2019 12:08 · Samuel Lovett]

Any Champions League draw wouldn't be complete without a predicted 'Group of Death'. In this case, though, there's more than one to consider.

'Group of Death' A:

Liverpool

Real Madrid

Inter

Leipzig

'Group of Death' B:

Manchester City

Atletico Madrid

Lyon

Galatasaray

'Group of Death' C:

Barcelona

Tottenham

Leverkusen

Lille

These are the worst case scenarios but given the quality on offer in each pot, it's safe to assume there'll be a number of difficult-looking groups drawn this evening.

[29 August 2019 12:23 · Samuel Lovett]

[29 August 2019 12:24 · Samuel Lovett]

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[29 August 2019 12:24 · Samuel Lovett]

[29 August 2019 12:25 · Samuel Lovett]

[29 August 2019 12:26 · Samuel Lovett]

And here's a reminder of how the four pots look:

[29 August 2019 12:53 · Samuel Lovett]

One from last week but a topic that refuses to go away:

[29 August 2019 13:07 · Samuel Lovett]

Champions League aside, Uefa's men's player of the year will also be announced this evening, with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk all in contention.