With the Champions League‘s 32 participants for 2021/22 now known after qualification came to an end on Wednesday evening, all eyes are now on Thursday for the Champions League group stage draw.
This year’s draw is being held earlier than usual, as UEFA usually wait until the Friday or Monday after qualification has ended to draw the groups. This year, though, they are wasting no time.
Serie A, of course, will be represented by Inter, AC Milan, Atalanta, and Juventus in the 2021/22 Champions League.
What time does the Champions League draw start?
Thursday’s draw will take place in Istanbul and commence at 18:00 CEST, which is 17:00 BST for those watching on from the UK and it’s 12:00 EDT for those on the east coast of the USA.
Where can you watch the Champions League draw?
You can watch the Champions League draw on UEFA.com. Additionally, the Champions League broadcasters in each country will have the rights to show it live, though not all will.
What are the Champions League draw pots?
Serie A is represented in each of the four Champions League draw pots, and Italy’s representatives will not be able to face one another in the group stage.
Inter, as champions of Italy, are in Pot 1. Juventus are in Pot 2, Atalanta find themselves in Pot 3, while AC Milan return to the Champions League in Pot 4.
The complete pots are as follows:
Pot 1: Chelsea, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Inter, Lille, and Sporting CP
Pot 2. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Sevilla, and Borussia Dortmund
Pot 3: Porto, Ajax, Shakhtar Donetsk, RB Leipzig, RB Salzburg, Benfica, Atalanta, and Zenit Saint Petersburg
Pot 4: Besiktas, Dynamo Kyiv, Club Brugge, Young Boys, AC Milan, Malmo, Wolfsburg, and Sheriff Tiraspol
