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The UEFA Champions League group stage draw for the 2019/20 season will take place in Monaco on August 29. Aside from the fact that 32 teams will participate in the draw, the UEFA Player of the Year ceremony is scheduled to take place simultaneously.
Liverpool were crowned continental kings for the sixth time in their history in the all English final last season and the Reds will head into the new campaign as the defending champions.
The Merseyside giants beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in Madrid to win football's biggest club competition and will take their place in Pot 1, alongside Manchester City and Chelsea who won the Premier League and the Europa League respectively.
The Lilywhites on the other hand, are in Pot 2 by virtue of their top-four finish and consistent showing in the group stages of the competition over the years.
Italian outfit Atalanta will make their debut in the competition this season as they gained entry to the competition by virtue of their fourth-placed finish in the Serie A.
As per the usual proceedings of the draw, every group will have one team from each pot and two teams from the same country cannot be part of the same group. UEFA will also continue to keep Russian and Ukranian teams apart, owing to concerns over the Ukrainian conflict.
Pot Draws
Pot 1 - Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit St. Petersburg.
Pot 2 - Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham, Ajax, Benfica.
Pot 3 - Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Salzburg, Olympiakos, Club Brugge, Valencia, Inter Milan, Dinamo Zagreb.
Pot 4 - Lokomotiv Moscow, Genk, Galatasaray, Leipzig, Slavia Prague, Red Star Belgrade, Atalanta, Lille.
Important Information
Venue - Monaco
Date and Time - 29th August 2019, 9;30 PM IST
Telecast - Star Sports 2/HD and live-stream on YouTube/UEFA's official website
Duration of the group stages - September 17 - December 11
