2021/22 Champions League – the full guide to today’s draw

MILAN – The club’s European path will be carved out in Istanbul in the Champions League group stage draw, which will start at 18:00 CEST.

HOW THE DRAW WORKS Each group will be made up of one team from each pot. Thursday’s draw will respect the classic rule which states that teams from the same association cannot face each other in the group stage. Any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw ceremony.

UEFA has announced that if an association has two representatives, the clubs will be paired in order to split their fixtures between Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If an association has four (or more) representatives, two pairings will be made, which will be based on TV audiences and will be confirmed prior to the draw.

THE 32 TEAMS  The 26 clubs that have automatically qualified for the Champions League group stage have been joined by the six play-off winning sides: Benfica, Malmo, Young Boys, Salzburg, Sheriff Tiraspol and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Pot 1

This includes the UEFA Champions League holders, the UEFA Europa League holders and the winners of the six highest-ranking leagues (Spain, England, Germany, Italy, France and Portugal).

Chelsea (ENG) [98,000] – UEFA Champions League holders Bayern Munich (GER) [134,000] Manchester City (ENG) [125,000] Atletico Madrid (ESP) [115,000] Villarreal (ESP) [63,000] – UEFA Europa League holdersInter (ITA) [53,000] Sporting CP (POR) [45,500] LOSC Lille (FRA) [14,000]

Pot 2 Real Madrid  Barcelona Juventus Manchester United Paris Saint-Germain Liverpool Sevilla Borussia Dortmund

Pot 3 Porto Ajax Leipzig Atalanta Zenit Benfica Salzburg Shakhtar Donetsk

Pot 4 Besiktas Bruges Dynamo Kyiv Milan Wolfsburg Young Boys Malmo Sheriff Tiraspol

THE END OF THE AWAY-GOAL RULE

The five-substitution rule remains in place in the 2021/22 Champions League. It is worth noting that if the aggregate score is level after the second leg, extra-time will be played, followed by a penalty shootout to determine the winner if necessary, regardless of the number of goals that each side has scored away from home.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DATES

GROUP STAGE Matchday one: 14/15 September Matchday two: 28/29 September Matchday three: 19/20 October Matchday four: 2/3 November Matchday five: 23/24 November Matchday six: 7/8 December

KNOCKOUT STAGE Round of 16: 15/16/22/23 February and 8/9/15/16 March 2022 Quarter-finals: 5/6 and 12/13 April 2022 Semi-finals: 26/27 April and 3/4 May 2022 Final: 28 May 2022

Draw dates 26 August 2021: group stage (Istanbul, Turkey) 13 December 2021: round of 16 18 March 2022: quarter-finals and semi-finals

THE FINAL WILL BE PLAYED IN SAINT PETERSBURG

Saint Petersburg will stage the 2021/22 Champions League final. Zenit’s home ground was originally scheduled to host the 2021 final, which was eventually moved to Lisbon due to the pandemic.

HOW TO WATCH THE DRAW: INTER.IT AND THE CLUB’S SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

We will follow the draw together on Inter.it, the official Inter app and on all the club’s social media channels with real-time updates from Istanbul. The ceremony will be shown from 18:00 CEST on Inter TV and streamed live on our YouTube channel, as well as on our website.

AWARDS DURING THE DRAW

The group stage draw is not the only highlight of the day, as the event in Istanbul is set to also include an awards ceremony for the UEFA men’s and women’s players of the year, the coaches of the year of men’s and women’s teams, as well as the players of the season by position.