Champions League group stage draw: Who is the Grim Reaper calling?

(Dan Tri) - The Champions League group stage draw is set to take place at 11pm on August 28 in Monaco.

So, up to now, the 36 teams participating in the Champions League group stage have been determined. They are divided into 4 seeded groups, based on the results of European cup competitions in the last 5 seasons.

Group 1 seeds: PSG, Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Dortmund, Barcelona.

Pot 2: Arsenal, Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Frankfurt, Benfica, Club Brugge.

Pot 3: Tottenham, PSV, Ajax, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Bodo Glimt, Marseille.

Pot 4: AS Monaco, Galatasaray, Union Saint-Gilloise, Athletic Bilbao, Newcastle, Pafos, Kairat, Qarabag, Copenhagen.

UEFA will draw based on prestigious software, to ensure fairness. Each club will face two teams from each seeding pot. They will play a total of 8 matches (4 home matches, 4 away matches).

The familiar rules still apply, such as teams not facing opponents from the same country and not meeting more than two clubs from the same footballing background.

The top eight teams in the group stage automatically qualify for the round of 16. The teams ranked 9-24 will participate in a play-off round to select the eight teams to enter the round of 16. The teams ranked 25-36 will be eliminated, instead of being pushed down to the Europa League as before.

Notably, from this season onwards, UEFA will give priority to teams with higher rankings in the group stage to play at home in the second leg of the knockout round. This ensures fairness for teams that have made an effort to compete in the group stage, avoiding the disadvantageous situation like Liverpool last season.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/dang-boc-tham-vong-bang-champions-league-tu-than-goi-ten-ai-20250828230001066.htm