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
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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.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the 2019/20 Champions League group stage draw.
Before we go any further, first things first: the pots.
Pot one: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Zenit St Petersburg
Pot two: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham, Ajax, Benfica
Pot three: Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Salzburg, Olympiakos, Club Bruges, Valencia, Inter Milan, Dinamo Zagreb
Pot four: Lokomotiv Moscow, Genk, Galatasaray, RB Leipzig, Slavia Prague, Red Star Belgrade, Atalanta, Lille
What's that? How will the draw work? Let me explain, friends.
So, the top pot contains the two Uefa competition winners as well as the champions of the six highest-ranked nations. That means Liverpool and Chelsea are joined by Manchester City, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Zenit St Petersburg.
The remaining teams are then split across pots two to four by order of the club coefficient rankings.
No team can be drawn against a club from their own league.
Champions League calendar:
Matchday one: 17, 18 September
Matchday two: 1, 2 October
Matchday three: 22, 23 October
Matchday four: 5, 6 November
Matchday five: 26, 27 November
Matchday six: 10, 11 December:
Round of 16 draw: 16 December
Round of 16 first legs: 18, 19, 25, 26 February
Round of 16 second legs: 10, 11, 17, 18 March
Quarter-finals and semi-finals draw: 20 March
Quarter-finals first leg: 7, 8 April
Quarter-finals second leg: 14, 15 April
Semi-finals first leg: 28, 29 April
Semi-finals second leg: 5, 6 May
Final: 30 May
'Why are Man City in the hat when Uefa ban looms over this season’s competition?'
Tony Evans has the answers and takes a look at what comes next for Pep Guardiola's club:
All 32 teams in this evenings’s group stage draw ranked and rated:
NEW BALL ALERT!
Admittedly, it's a tad garish and kinda looks like a Champions League mascot has thrown up on it. But, you know what, I like it. There, I said it. Cuff me.
This is the sort of content I'm here for. Self-deprecation at its finest. Kudos, lads.
Chief football writer Miguel Delaney has taken a deep dive into Tottenham's current struggles. Here, he asks what is exactly going on behind closed doors at the club:
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