And that’s it from me today. Thanks for being with us. Head here for a roundup of the draw.
Or see below for the full groups.
Group A
Atlético Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
Monaco
Club Brugge
Group B
Barcelona
Tottenham Hotspur
PSV Eindhoven
Internazionale
Group C
PSG
Napoli
Liverpool
Red Star Belgrade
Group D
Lokomotiv Moscow
Porto
Schalke
Galatasaray
Group E
Bayern Munich
Benfica
Ajax
AEK Athens
Group F
Manchester City
Shakhtar Donetsk
Lyon
Hoffenheim
Group G
Real Madrid
Roma
CSKA Moscow
Viktoria Plzeň
Group H
Juventus
Manchester United
Valencia
Young Boys
Group stage match days
Uefa are yet to announce the fixtures, but these are the match days
Match day one: 18-19 September
Match day two: 2-3 October
Match day three: 23-24 October
Match day four: 6-7 November
Match day five: 27-28 November
Match day six: 11-12 December
Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke is less happy about it, with his team facing Atlético, Monaco and Club Brugge in Group A: “I am not very happy. This is a difficult group. Atlético are a top team, and those games will be massive.”
Here’s someone very happy with the draw: Falcao returns to Atlético Madrid with Monaco. “Very happy and honoured to go back to a place that has always been like my home,” he tweets. “Happy to meet again, Tiger!,” say Atlético. Aww.
😊 ¡Felices por volver a encontrarnos, Tigre!
— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) August 30, 2018
🇨🇴 Radameeeeeeel @FALCAO, la, la, la, lara, lala... 🎶#AúpaAtleti #UCLDraw https://t.co/YmUUtUsdHC
Here’s a full report on the draw in Monaco, which will be updated with Martha Kelner’s nuanced take on proceedings later today.
Updated
Peter Schmeichel is on Manchester United duty. Group H is made up of Juventus, Manchester United, Valencia and Young Boys. “It’s a little bit harder than I wanted,” he says but he’s looking forward to Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Old Trafford with Juventus. “Juventus are the hardest team in Europe at the moment because of this signing,” he says. “They are rebuilding the Italy club football scene at the moment.”
Ian Rush is representing Liverpool in Monaco. “Anyone of the four could qualify,” he says. “It’s a decent draw, because they won’t want to come to Liverpool.”
He says PSG are the biggest threat because they will be desperate to win the Champions League after their expenditure – “But they’ll find it tough when they come to Anfield,” he adds.
Rush says the players will have learned from getting to the final last year and can “go onto better things” this year.
So, who qualifies? Group A: Atletico, Monaco perhaps? Group B: Barcelona, Tottenham? Group C: hard to call. Group D: Lokomotiv Moscow and Porto? Group E: Bayern, Ajax? Group F: Manchester City, Lyon? Group G: Real Madrid and Roma? Group H: Juve and Man Utd? Could be but it’s difficult to tell here.
Group C feels like the most exciting one - there could be goals galore, with Red Star an unknown(ish) quantity in amongst them to cause chaos.
Ledley King, representing Spurs at the draw, says he’s delighted with how Group B has turned out: “you want to face the biggest teams”. Well, Barcelona, PSV and Inter are up there.
He says Tottenham are comfortable in the competition now and is looking forward to facing Barca. “I really wanted to see that test, the fans will look forward to that game and it’s a great game for the neutrals.”
All three teams in their group, C, have won the competition except Spurs. “The team will have to play well to progress,” he says.
Here’s that Group stage draw in a handy guide:
Group A
Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Club Brugge
Group B
Barcelona, Tottenham, PSV Eindhoven, Inter
Group C
Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli, Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade
Group D
Lokomotiv Moscow, Porto, Schalke, Galatasaray
Group E
Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax, AEK Athens
Group F
Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, Hoffenheim
Group G
Real Madrid, Roma, CSKA Moscow, Viktoria Plzen
Group H
Juventus, Manchester United, Valencia, Young Boys
“I feel excited and proud of this great award,” he says. He thanks his club, team-mates and coaches “who help me in my good and less good moments.”
Was there someone who inspired him the most? “I think it’s my father – he was always pushing me to fight for my dreams, to never give up. I owe him a lot.”
Mo Salah looks gutted.
Aleksander Čeferin, Uefa head honcho, trots out onstage and hands the gong to ... Luka Modric!
Before the award is handed out, there’s a brief pause for some pretty innocuous interviews with Salah and Modric. Lots of chat about pride, working hard, being role models etc.
On to the men, with Luka Modrić, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah nominated. Only two have bothered to turn up, with Ronaldo steering clear of the bash.
Pernille Harder of Wolfsburg and Denmark wins the gong! She can’t be there as she’s on international duty but says via video: “This has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid. I want to give a big thanks to Wolsburg for an amazing season.”
While we watch the montage, here’s news from yesterday.
Here come the final two awards of the day: the Uefa men and women’s player of the year. First, the women - Pernille Harder, Ada Hegerberg and Amandine Henry are the nominees.
Barry Glendenning previewed the Big Cup draw in the Fiver - how much of it get right? Find out here:
It feels like Group A will be tightly contested, with Group G very competitive too. Easiest group? Perhaps Group D - but there’s a lot of travelling involved in that one, which could have an effect.
Well then, there are some tasty ties in there. For the Premier League clubs, there are some tough draws. Liverpool have got their work cut out, Tottenham could have fared better, Manchester United will have some difficult fixtures - so perhaps Manchester City have done best of all.
The final draw
Group A
Atlético Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
Monaco
Club Brugge
Group B
Barcelona
Tottenham Hotspur
PSV Eindhoven
Internazionale
Group C
PSG
Napoli
Liverpool
Red Star Belgrade
Group D
Lokomotiv Moscow
Porto
Schalke
Galatasaray
Group E
Bayern Munich
Benfica
Ajax
AEK Athens
Group F
Manchester City
Shakhtar Donetsk
Lyon
Hoffenheim
Group G
Real Madrid
Roma
CSKA Moscow
Viktoria Plzeň
Group H
Juventus
Manchester United
Valencia
Young Boys
So that means AEK Athens get Group E
Group E
Bayern Munich
Benfica
Ajax
AEK Athens
Internazionale can only go into Group B. Oof
Group B
Barcelona
Tottenham Hotspur
PSV Eindhoven
Internazionale
Viktoria Plzeň, the Czech champions, are drawn into Group G
Group G
Real Madrid
Roma
CSKA Moscow
Viktoria Plzeň
Club Brugge are placed into Group A
Group A
Atlético Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
Monaco
Club Brugge
Red Star Belgrade on their return to the Champions League are drawn in Group C, which is looking very tasty
Group C
PSG
Napoli
Liverpool
Red Star Belgrade
Young Boys are off to Group H
Group H
Juventus
Manchester United
Valencia
Young Boys
Galatasaray get Group D
Group D
Lokomotiv Moscow
Porto
Schalke
Galatasaray
Hoffenheim go into Group F - meaning it looks like this:
Group F
Manchester City
Shakhtar Donetsk
Lyon
Hoffenheim
So we’re onto Pot 4 at maximum speed
Pot 4
Viktoria Plzeň
Club Brugge
Galatasaray
Young Boys
Internazionale
Hoffenheim
Red Star Belgrade
AEK Athens
Cristiano Ronaldo gets forward of the year - but hasn’t turned up to accept it. Pah.
As it stands
Group A
Atlético Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
Monaco
Group B
Barcelona
Tottenham Hotspur
PSV Eindhoven
Group C
PSG
Napoli
Liverpool
Group D
Lokomotiv Moscow
Porto
Schalke
Group E
Bayern Munich
Benfica
Ajax
Group F
Manchester City
Shakhtar Donetsk
Lyon
Group G
Real Madrid
Roma
CSKA Moscow
Group H
Juventus
Manchester United
Valencia
So Liverpool get Group C.
Group C
PSG
Napoli
Liverpool
Monaco go into Group A.
Group A
Atlético Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
Monaco
Ajax are next out of the bowl, and are placed straight into Group E
Group E
Bayern Munich
Benfica
Ajax
PSV Eindhoven are drawn into Group B
Group B
Barcelona
Tottenham Hotspur
PSV Eindhoven
Valencia are handed Group H
Group H
Juventus
Manchester United
Valencia
Schalke are in Group D
Group D
Lokomotiv Moscow
Porto
Schalke
CSKA Moscow go into Group G.
Group G
Real Madrid
Roma
CSKA Moscow
Lyon are drawn into Group F
Group F
Manchester City
Shakhtar Donetsk
Lyon
Time for Pot 3:
Liverpool
Schalke
Lyon
Monaco
Ajax
CSKA Moscow
PSV Eindhoven
Valencia
We pause again, this time for Luka Modric to be awarded the gong for Champions League midfielder of last season.
🏆 2017/18 #UCL Midfielder of the Season!
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 30, 2018
⭐️ Luka Modrić 👏👏👏#UEFAawards #UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/T8RggiRIG2
Updated
As it stands:
A
Atlético Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
B
Barcelona
Tottenham Hotspur
C
PSG
Napoli
D
Lokomotiv Moscow
Porto
E
Bayern Munich
Benfica
F
Manchester City
Shakhtar Donetsk
G
Real Madrid
Roma
H
Juventus
Manchester United
So that means Tottenham Hotspur are in Group B with Barcelona.
Now it’s Carlo Ancelott’s Napoli: they get Group C with PSG
Benfica are pulled out of the pot by Kaka, and head straight into Group E with Bayern.
Shakhtar Donetsk go into Group F with Manchester City.
Borussia Dortmund can go into Group A, B or C and they get … A, alongside Atletico Madrid.
Manchester United are placed into Group H with Juventus. Ronaldo returns to Old Trafford.
Updated
Roma are out of the bowl next, and they’re added to Group G with Real Madrid. Ouch.
Porto go into Group D with Lokomotiv Moscow.
I can confirm he did.
Did Ramos just tap Salah on the shoulder as he walked past there? Cheeky!
— Martha Kelner (@marthakelner) August 30, 2018
Right, back to the draw with Pot 2: which looks like this
Borussia Dortmund
Porto
Manchester United
Shakhtar Donetsk
Benfica
Napoli
Tottenham Hotspur
Roma
Before we move on, there’s just time to hand Sergio Ramos (sat thoughtfully right behind Mo Salah), the gong for Champions League defender of last season.
Updated
So, here are how things stand:
A
Atlético Madrid
B
Barcelona
C
PSG
D
Lokomotiv Moscow
E
Bayern Munich
F
Manchester City
G
Real Madrid
H
Juventus
So that means Lokomotiv Moscow get Group D.
Manchester City, the Premier League champions, go into Group F.
Juventus head into Group H.
It’s Group A for Atlético Madrid, thanks to their former striker Forlan.
Kaka pulls Barcelona out of the bowl, and Diego Forlan sends them unerringly into Group B.
Bayern Munich go into Group E.
Real Madrid are next out. It’s Group G for them.
Paris Saint-Germain are the first team out of the bowl. They go into Group C.
The teams to be drawn from Pot 1 are:
Real Madrid
Atlético Madrid
Barcelona
Bayern München
Manchester City
Juventus
Paris Saint-Germain
Lokomotiv Moscow
First comes another video: this is on the technical procedure, which you can read all about below. One interesting other point is that teams from Russia and Ukraine will not be drawn in the same group.
Updated
The draw proper is about to start: two Uefa suits are on the podium alongside Forlan and Kaka. Any minute now...
Here come more awards: goalkeeper of the season goes to Keylor Navas (a man who has just been replaced by Thibaut Courtois)
We head to a chat with Kaka and Diego Forlan celebrating Atlético Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium, the venue of the final this season, so let’s briefly head about as far away from the Champions League as we can with this lovely piece:
David Beckham speaks: “It’s great to be part of this evening. It’s been a long time since I was part of an awards show like this.
“I was very lucky to play with some of the biggest clubs, best players and greatest managers. Winning the treble was a great moment for me – it was a moment we created history. Winning the Champions League the way we won it was incredible.
“To play with the players I played with at Real Madrid was incredible too.”
He’s then asked some questions that allow him to talk charidee, pride and the usual things. He looks very pleased.
Here comes the first award of the night: the President’s Award, which recognises outstanding achievements, professional excellence and exemplary personal qualities.
Paolo Maldini, Bobby Robson, Bobby CHarlton, Eusebio and Johan Cruyff have all won it: this year Aleksander Čeferin hands the gong to David Beckham. Cue montage.
While we watch images of various players banging in goals form last season, here’s a new story you may have missed from yesterday:
Here we go - the ceremony is about to start, hosted by Reshmin Chowdhury and Pedro Pinto. But first comes a montage.
Here’s something to whet your appetite before the draw starts: the Fiver on Big Cup bingo!
Among a number of big names in the draw, one club are back after an absence of over quarter of a century: Red Star Belgrade. The team, who won the European Cup in 1991 on penalties, came back from two goals down last night to secure a 2-2 draw against Salzburg and went through on away goals. Fans invaded the pitch, mobbing the players and pulling the shirts from their back on the final whistle.
There are a number of things to get through today alongside the draw – the main elements of which are:
In Monaco, the various dignitaries, club officials and players are slowly filling the hall where the draw will take place. They’re arriving in some style too:
Updated
How the draw works
Here’s how Uefa works it all out:
- The teams are split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 consists of the holders, the Europa League winners and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations. Pots 2 to 4 are determined by the club coefficient rankings.
- No team can play a club from their own association and, based on decisions taken by the UEFA Executive Committee, clubs from Russia and Ukraine must not be drawn in the same group.
- In the case of associations with two or more representatives, clubs have been paired in order to split their matches between Tuesday and Wednesday, namely:
Real Madrid & Barcelona
Atlético Madrid & Valencia
Bayern & Dortmund
Manchester City & Tottenham
Juventus & Internazionale Milano
Paris & Lyon
Lokomotiv Moskva & CSKA Moskva
Porto & Benfica
Manchester United & Liverpool
Napoli & Roma
Schalke & Hoffenheim
Ajax & PSV Eindhoven
- If a paired club is drawn, for example, in groups A, B, C or D, the other paired club – once drawn – will automatically be assigned to one groups E, F, G or H.
Who is in which pot?
Good afternoon and welcome to the Champions League group stage draw. Without further ado - here are the pots:
Pot 1
Real Madrid (holders)
Atlético Madrid (Europa League winners)
Barcelona
Bayern München
Manchester City
Juventus
Paris Saint-Germain
Lokomotiv Moscow
Pot 2
Borussia Dortmund
Porto
Manchester United
Shakhtar Donetsk
Benfica
Napoli
Tottenham Hotspur
Roma
Pot 3
Liverpool
Schalke
Lyon
Monaco
Ajax
CSKA Moscow
PSV Eindhoven
Valencia
Pot 4
Viktoria Plzeň
Club Brugge
Galatasaray
Young Boys
Internazionale
Hoffenheim
Red Star Belgrade
AEK Athens
Updated
