Follow live coverage as the group stage draw for the 2021/22 Uefa Champions League takes place today, the start of another journey toward the biggest prize in club football.
Last year it was two Premier League teams who contested the final, Chelsea emerging as triumphant with a 1-0 win over Manchester City in Lisbon. This year, the road to European silverware leads clubs to the Krestovsky Stadium in St. Petersburg, Russia, with the final set to be contested on 28 May, 2022.
Liverpool and Manchester United have been paired by Uefa, meaning they cannot play group stage matches on the same evenings, and the same is true of Man City and Chelsea. Among the top seeds are Ligue 1 winners Lille and Europa League champions Villarreal; while perhaps the most notable club in this summer transfer window anywhere on the continent, Paris Saint-Germain, are in Pot 2 - though it remains to be seen if Kylian Mbappe plays for them in this year’s competition or transfers to Real Madrid, who are similarly in that second group.
The six games will take place across a two-and-a-half-month period, with the knock-outs starting into the new year as usual.
- Matchday 1: 14/15 September
- Matchday 2: 28/29 September
- Matchday 3: 19/20 October
- Matchday 4: 2/3 November
- Matchday 5: 23/24 November
- Matchday 6: 7/8 December
