With the new season now in full flow, the UEFA Champions League group stage will take centre-stage on Thursday, as the likes of Leicester City, Manchester City, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich find out the teams they will need to beat to make it to the knockout stages.
Real Madrid begin another season as the European champions, the second Champions League title they have won in three seasons. Indeed, in the last three years, La Liga clubs have won all three titles, with two of those finals being all-Spanish affairs.
Get the full group stage draw results HERE
With Real Madrid looking strong again, Barcelona having that ridiculously-scary attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar and Atletico Madrid strengthening their team quite well, these three look like being the teams to beat again, going into the new season.
Looking to end the Spanish dominance will be Premier League clubs, who have underwhelmed more often than not in the recent past. Joining Champions League regulars Manchester City, who had to come through a playoff against Steaua Bucharest, and Arsenal, this time around, are Leicester City, who will make their debut, and Tottenham, who are coming off a splendid domestic campaign last year.
How far the English clubs will go will largely depend on the draw, and Arsenal, certainly, will hope to avoid some of the bigwigs like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, so that they finally achieve the target of finishing top of their group.
Leicester City will be one of the biggest stories of this Champions League season. Having achieved one of the greatest title victories in recent memory, Leicester will want to make their mark in Europe, when they debut in the UEFA Champions League.
Claudio Ranieri's men have the privilege of being in Pot 1 of the draw, owing to the fact they are the champions of England. That means, they cannot be grouped with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Bayern Munich, which, in turn, boosts their chances of going past the group stages.
A total of 32 teams will be in the group stages of the Champions League and all of them will be watching with great interest to see who they draw.
UEFA Champions League group stage draw: Pot 1: Real Madrid (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Leicester City (England), Bayern Munich (Germany), Juventus (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Paris Saint-Germain (France), CSKA Moscow (Russia).
Pot 2: Atletico Madrid (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Arsenal (England), Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Porto (Portugal), Napoli (Italy), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany).
Pot 3: Basel (Switzerland), Tottenham Hotspur (England), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Lyon (France), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Sporting CP (Portugal), Club Brugge (Belgium), Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany).
Pot 4: Celtic (Scotland), Monaco (France), Besiktas (Turkey), Legia Warsaw (Poland), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria), FC Copenhagen (Denmark), Rostov (Russia).
Note: Two teams from the same country or same pot cannot be drawn together in the same group.
Where to Watch Live
The Champions League draw in Monaco is set to begin at 6 p.m. local time (9.30 p.m. IST, 5 p.m. BST, 12 p.m. ET). Live Streaming and TV information is below.
India: TV: Ten 2. Live Streaming: Ten Sports Live.
UK: TV: BT Sport 1.
USA: TV: Fox Sports 1. Live Streaming: Foxsoccer2go.
Spain: TV: Movistar, TV3 and Bein Sports.
Australia, Middle East, Canada, Thailand: TV: Bein Sports.
Malaysia: TV: Astro Supersport.
International: Live Streaming: UEFA.com.
