Champions League 2020/2021, Thursday's draw: the complete guide

MILAN - Inter's season began with wins against Fiorentina and Benevento. And while the Nerazzurri are preparing for more league fixtures (the calendar), it's already time to start thinking about a new European campaign, namely the 2020/21 Champions League. From 17:00 CEST on Thursday, in Geneva, the draw for the Champions League group stage will be held.

HOW TO WATCH THE DRAW: INTER.IT AND THE NERAZZURRI'S SOCIALS

We'll be following the action all together: on Inter.it, on the official app and all of our socials, we'll give live updates of events in Geneva. The draw will be available on Inter TV and streamed live on our YouTube channel, as well as our site.

THE 32 TEAMS AND THE FORMULA

32 teams will take part in the 2020/21 edition of the Champions League, six of which reached the group stage by qualifying through the preliminary stages. The classic Champions League format is set to return, with teams playing each other home and away in the groups and two-legged ties from the round of 16.

The qualified teams:

ESP (4): Real Madrid, Barcellona, Atlético Madrid, Sevilla ENG (4): Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea ITA (4): Juventus, Inter, Atalanta, Lazio GER (4): Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Borussia Mönchengladbach FRA (3): Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille, Rennes RUS (3): Zenit, Lokomotiv Moscow, Krasnodar* UKR (2): Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Kiev* POR (1): Porto BEL (1): Club Brugge TUR (1): İstanbul Başakşehir NED (1): Ajax GRE (1): Olympiacos* HUN (1): Ferencváros* DEN (1): Midtjylland* AUT (1): Salzburg*

*via the preliminary stages

Champions League playoff second-leg results (first leg in brackets)Salzburg 3-1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (2-1)Midtjylland 4-1 Slavia Prague (0-0) PAOK 1-2 Krasnodar (1-2)Dinamo Kiev 3-0 Gent (2-1)Ferencváros 0-0 Molde FK (3-3) Omonia Nicosia 0-0 Olimpiacos (0-2)

THE RULES OF THE DRAW

The 32 teams will be separated into four pots. In pot 1 are the winners of the Champions League and Europa League (Bayern Munich and Sevilla), as well as the champions of the six highest-ranked countries. From pots 2 to 4, however, the teams are divided based on their coefficients in the UEFA Club Rankings. Each group will be comprised of one team per pot and teams from the same country may not be drawn in the same group.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: THE POTS

Pot 1 Bayern Munich (GER), UEFA Champions League holder Sevilla (ESP), UEFA Europa League holder Real Madrid (ESP) Liverpool (ENG) Juventus (ITA) Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) Zenit (RUS) Porto (POR)

Pot 2 Barcelona (ESP) coefficient 128.000 Atlético Madrid (ESP) 127.000 Manchester City (ENG) 116.000 Manchester United (ENG) 100.000 Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 85.000 Borussia Dortmund (GER) 85.000 Chelsea (ENG) 83.000 Ajax (NED) 69.500

Pot 3 Dinamo Kiev (UKR) 55.000 Salzburg (AUT) 53.500 Leipzig (GER) 49.000Inter (ITA) 44.000 Olympiacos (GRE) 43.000 Lazio (ITA) 41.000 Krasnodar (RUS) 35.500 Atalanta (ITA) 35.500

Pot 4 Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS) 33.000 Marseille (FRA) 31.000 Club Brugge (BEL) 28.500 Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) 26.000 İstanbul Başakşehir (TUR) 21.500 Midtjylland (DEN) 14.500 Rennes (FRA) 14.000 Ferencváros (HUN) 9.000

DATES

Group stage Matchday 1: 20/10/2020–21/10/2020 Matchday 2: 27/10/2020–28/10/2020 Matchday 3: 03/11/2020–04/11/2020 Matchday 4: 24/11/2020–25/11/2020 Matchday 5: 01/12/2020–02/12/2020 Matchday 6: 08/12/2020–09/12/2020

Knockout rounds: Round of 16: 16-17-23-24 February; 9-10-16-17 March Quarter-finals: 6-7 April; 13-14 April Semi-finals: 27-28 April; 4-5 May Final: 29/05/2021, Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul

The final will be played at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, which was the original venue for the final in 2020. Saint Petersburg, which was due to host this season's final, will be the venue for the final in 2022.

THE DATES OF THE DRAWS 14/12/2020: Round of 16 draw 19/03/2021: Quarter-final and semi-final draw

RULES: 5 SUBS TO RETURN

The UEFA Executive Committee has ruled that it will be possible to make up to five substitutions during a game (in three blocks during a game - changes made at half-time will not be included). As a result, the maximum squad size has been increased to 23.