Manchester City have been drawn in Group C with Atalanta, Shakhtar Donetsk and Dinamo Zagreb in the Uefa Champions League., in what appears to be a favourable draw for the Premier League champions.
Atalanta are playing in their first ever Champions League after finishing third in Serie A last season. They were thrilling to watch, scoring more goals than champions Juventus, but they are relatively inexperienced and face an major challenge to get out of the group.
Pep Guardiola's side are desperate to get their hands on the biggest trophy of all after falling at the quarter-final stage a year ago. They look in ominous form once again this season and will be one of the teams to beat in the latter stages. They won't be alone with the competition looking as competitive as ever at the very sharp end with domestic rivals Liverpool looking to repeat as European champions.
Fixtures
September 18: Shakhtar (a)
October 1: Dinamo Zagreb (h)
October 22: Atalanta (h)
November 6: Atalanta (a)
November 26: Shakhtar (h)
December 11: Dinamo Zagreb (a)
All the latest reaction from Monaco right here:
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
Awks...
'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:
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.”
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.
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
Real Madrid
Inter
Leipzig
'Group of Death' B:
Manchester City
Atletico Madrid
Lyon
Galatasaray
Atletico Madrid
Lyon
Galatasaray
'Group of Death' C:
Barcelona
Tottenham
Leverkusen
Lille
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.
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And here's a reminder of how the four pots look:
One from last week but a topic that refuses to go away:
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.
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