The field of 32 teams for the 2021-2022 UEFA Champions League is set. All eyes now shift to the group stage draw in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday, Aug. 26.
The 32 team names will be split up into four different pots and a name will be drawn from each to give shape to the eight groups. The one major caveat: No club can play a team from its own country in the group stage.
Each team will play a total of six group-stage matches with the top two teams in each group advancing to the Champions League Round of 16 in February 2022.
WATCH: Champions League group stage draw on fuboTV
The teams that finish in third place in each group are eliminated, but they'll drop into the UEFA Europa League knockout stage, where they will face the UEFA Europa League group runners-up.
How to watch Champions League group stage draw
- Date: Thursday, Aug. 26
- Time: 12 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: CBS Sports Network (CBSSN)
- Stream: fuboTV, CBS Sports HQ, Paramount+, CBS Sports app
CBS will carry the Champions League draw live on CBS Sports Network (CBSSN) and streaming on all its platforms. The CBSSN feed will be streamed live on fuboTV (free 7-day trial).
Team pots for group stage draw
The 32 teams are divided into four pots containing eight teams each. A name from each pot will be drawn across Group A through Group H.
The group of eight teams in Pot 1 will consist of the Champions League holders (Chelsea), the Europa League holders (Villarreal CF) and the champions of the top six-ranked associations: Spain (Atletico Madrid), England (Manchester City), Germany (Bayern Munich), Italy (Inter Milan), France (Lille), and Portugal (Sporting CP).
The rest of the pots are broken out based on each club’s UEFA club coefficients. Here’s the list of teams in each pot in the order of their coefficient score.
Pot 1
- Bayern Munich (Germany) - 134
- Manchester City (England) - 125
- Atlético Madrid (Spain) - 115
- Chelsea (England) - 98
- Villarreal (Spain / UEFA Europa League holders) - 63
- Inter Milan (Italy) - 53
- Sporting CP (Portugal) - 45.5
- LOSC Lille (France) - 14
Pot 2
- Real Madrid (Spain) - 127
- FC Barcelona (Spain) - 122
- Juventus (Italy) - 120
- Manchester United (England) - 113
- Paris Saint-Germain (France) - 113
- Liverpool (England) - 101
- Sevilla (Spain) - 98
- Borussia Dortmund (Germany) - 90
Pot 3
- FC Porto (Portugal) - 87
- Ajax (Netherlands) - 82.5
- Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) - 79
- RB Leipzig (Germany) - 66
- RB Salzburg (Austria) - 59
- Benfica (Portugal) - 58
- Atalanta (Italy) - 50.5
- Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia) - 50
Pot 4
- Besiktas (Turkey) - 49
- Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) - 47
- Club Brugge (Belgium) - 35.5
- BSC Young Boys (Switzerland) - 35
- AC Milan (Italy) - 31
- Malmo FF (Sweden) - 18.5
- VfL Wolfsburg (Germany) - 14.5
- Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) - 14.5
UEFA Champions League clubs by country
| No. of Teams | Country | Qualified Teams |
| 5 | Spain | Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Villarreal |
| 4 | England | Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea |
| 4 | Germany | Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, VfL Wolfsburg |
| 4 | Italy | Inter Milan, Atalanta, AC Milan, Juventus |
| 3 | Portugal | Sporting CP, Porto, Benfica |
| 2 | France | LOSC Lille, Paris Saint-Germain |
| 2 | Ukraine | Dynamo Kiev, Shakhtar Donetsk |
| 1 | Austria | RB Salzburg |
| 1 | Belgium | Club Brugge |
| 1 | Moldova | Sheriff Tiraspol |
| 1 | Netherlands | Ajax |
| 1 | Russia | Zenit St. Petersburg |
| 1 | Sweden | Malmo FF |
| 1 | Switzerland | BSC Young Boys |
| 1 | Turkey | Besiktas |
How to watch the UEFA Champions League
The 2021-22 UEFA Champions League will be carried in the United States by CBS (English) and Univision (Spanish).
- Dates: 29 matchdays from Sept. 2021-May 2022
- TV Channels: CBS, CBS Sports Network-CBSSN (select matches only)
- Spanish-language TV: Univision, TUDN, UniMas, Galavision
- Streaming (English): Paramount+
- Streaming (Spanish): PrendeTV, TUDN.tv (authenticated users)
Matches that are carried by CBS or Univision TV channels will be streamed on fuboTV (free 7-day trial).