When Is The Champions League Draw Time?

Europe’s big guns will have started the campaign in their respective leagues already, but now, it’s time to get down to business.

That’s right, the Champions League - Europe’s biggest club competition - is back and now all that awaits is the highly anticipated group stage draw.

A couple of familiar faces will be swirling and choosing the balls of fate, with Chelsea’s European heroes of 2012 in Branislav Ivanovic and Michael Essien taking to the stage, but when is the draw exactly?

When is the Champions League draw?

The draw for this year's competition takes place on Thursday at 5pm BST in Istanbul, with defending champions Chelsea among the teams waiting to find out who they will face in their group.

Fellow Premier League sides Manchester City, who were last year's beaten finalists, Manchester United and Liverpool are all in the pot, too.

Which teams are in the draw?

There are 26 teams that have qualified for the group stage automatically, with a further six sides progressing via the play-offs.

Spain have five qualifiers, four through their finish in La Liga plus Villarreal after winning the Europa League.

• Spain: Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Villarreal
• England: Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea
• Germany: Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg
• Italy: Inter Milan, AC Milan, Atalanta, Juventus
• France: Lille, Paris St-Germain
• Portugal: Sporting Lisbon, Porto, Benfica
• Russia: Zenit St Petersburg
• Belgium: Club Brugge
• Ukraine: Dynamo Kyiv
• Netherlands: Ajax
• Turkey: Besiktas
• Switzerland: Young Boys
• Sweden: Malmo

Plus three qualifiers from Wednesday night's final play-off matches.

How does the draw work?

The 32 teams will be split into four seeding pots for Thursday's draw.

Pot 1 will consist of the holders, Chelsea, Europa League winners, Villarreal, and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations who did not qualify via one of the 2020/21 continental titles.

Pots 2 to 4 will be determined by club coefficient rankings.

When will the group matches take place?

• 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