The pots for Thursday’s UEFA Champions League draw have been finalised after the playoff round was completed on Wednesday.
It will be the first time a draw takes place under the new format, which sees all 36 teams in one league table.
The draw will begin at 5 p.m. UK / midday ET, with the first fixtures scheduled for Sept. 17-19. The league phase will stretch into January, with all 18 games on the final matchday being played at the same time.
Rather than placing teams into groups, the draw will create eight fixtures for each club. There will be two matches, one at home and one away, against teams from each of the four pots.
As teams now play games against clubs from their own pot there is no benefit from being in Pot 1. In previous seasons, being in Pot 1 meant you would avoid playing matches against the strongest clubs in the tournament.
Pot 1 used to house the holders of the Champions League and Europa League, plus the champions of the top six domestic leagues. Pots 2 through 4 would then be ordered by strength based on UEFA’s club coefficient, which ranks clubs on performance in Europe over the previous five seasons. Now only the Champions League titleholders will be automatically in Pot 1, all other positions will be on the UEFA club coefficient.
While clubs will learn their opponents and venues on Thursday, the order of the fixtures will not be published by UEFA until Saturday.
- This season the final will be held at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Saturday, May 31.
