2020-21 Champions League Draw

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  The 2020-21 UEFA Champions League is heating up, as we near the draw for the group stages.  Here is all you need to know for the spiritual start of the competition:

When and Where

The draw takes place on Thursday, 1 October in Geneva, Switzerland. The draw ceremony will begin at 10:00 Central Daylight Time.  You can watch it in the U.S. on UEFA’s official site as well as CBS All-Access, which has the broadcasting rights to all Champions League matches this year.

Teams

Liverpool find themselves in Pot 1, along with last season’s winners Bayern Munich, Europa League winners Sevilla, and the other domestic champions from the top-six rated European leagues. Here’s the full list of potential teams in the four pots (Pots 2-4 in descending UEFA coefficients):

Pot 1
Bayern (GER)
Sevilla (ESP)
Real Madrid (ESP)
Liverpool (ENG)
Juventus (ITA)
Paris (FRA)
Zenit (RUS)
Porto (POR)

Pot 2
Barcelona (ESP)
Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Manchester City (ENG)
Manchester United (ENG)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Dortmund (GER)
Chelsea (ENG)
Ajax (NED)

Pot 3
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
RB Salzburg (AUS)
RB Leipzig (GER)
Inter Milan (ITA)
Olympiacos (GRE)
Lazio (ITA)
Krasnodar (RUS)
Atalanta (ITA)

Pot 4
Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS)
Marseille (FRA)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER)
İstanbul Başakşehir (TUR)
Midtjylland (DEN)
Rennes (FRA)
Ferencváros (HUN)

Notes

Each Group will include one team drawn from each Pot.  The exact draw procedure to be confirmed before the ceremony.  No team will be matched with another club from its association, which means we will not be seeing Man City, United, or Chelsea until at least the knockout rounds.

The notable potential matchups for Liverpool include one of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Borussia Dortmund, or Ajax.  Pot 3 opponents could be RB Leipzig or one of the Italian clubs (Inter, Lazio, or Atalanta) – all strong teams that could make the group stage very interesting (and challenging).

Match Dates

Start blocking off Wednesday and Thursday afternoons in your work calendar so you be certain none of your less-cultured colleagues schedules a meeting or conference call while Liverpool play.  Here are the planned matchdays:

Matchday One: 20/21 October
Matchday Two: 27/28 October
Matchday Three: 3/4 November
Matchday Four: 24/25 November
Matchday Five: 1/2 December
Matchday Six: 8/9 December

Who else is excited?  Time to go for number seven!