In a little over an hour the draw for the group stages of the Champions League will take place in Nyon, Switzerland. Chelsea are seeded in Pot 1, alongside European champions Barcelona and last year’s finalists Manchester United.
However, there remains plenty of tough opposition in the remaining three pots, including the likes of AC Milan, Villarreal, Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund.
So stay tuned to this article thread throughout the afternoon as we bring you live updates as and when the balls are plucked from the hat.
You can interact as ever through the comments section below and we’ll endeavour to answer any queries you may have about the imminent draw and keep you updated right to the minute.
The draw kicks off at 16.45 GMT.
16.00 Okay, so with about three quarters of an hour still to go before things kick off in Switzerland, how about we run through the seeded Pots. Remember, you cannot be drawn against a team in your Pot and you cannot be drawn against a team from the same country as you at this stage.
Pot 1: Man Utd, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Porto, Inter Milan
Pot 2: AC Milan, Lyon, Shakthar Donestk, Valencia, Benfica, Villareal, CSKA Moscow, Marseille
Pot 3: Zenit, Ajax, Leverkusen, Olympiakos, Lille, Basel, Bate Borisov and Manchester City
Pot 4: Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Dinamo Zagreb, Hapoel Nicosia, Genk, Victoria Pilsen, Otelui Galati and Trabzonspor
16.08: I’d be interested to hear your best case/worst case scenarios, folks!
16.34: About ten minutes to go before the draw is scheduled to start…
16.36: A bit of information for you while we wait. The first group stage game will be played on the 14/15 September. Then it’ll be games on the 27/28 September, 18/19 October, 1/2 November, 22/23 November and 6/7 December.
16.44: The path to the final in Berlin next May is about to be laid out…
16.45: Right then, here we go! I was wrong earlier by the way. The draw is in Monte Carlo, Monaco, not Switzerland.
16.49: Rather expectedly, Uefa are going to drag this out. They’re now playing highlights of last season’s competition, including Zhirkov’s super strike in Russia.
16.54: Carles Puyol brings out the Champions League trophy to the stage. He could have worn a suit though. I guess it’s dress-down-Thursday in Monte Carlo.
16.57: Luis Figo is out on stage now, along with a couple of other Uefa suits. Shouldn’t be too long now…
17.01: Pot 1 will be the first to be drawn, very shortly.
17.04: United first out the hat — into Group C.
Next out is FC Porto, Villas-Boas’ former club, and they’re going into Group G.
The third team drawn out is Real Madrid — Group D.
Chelsea are out next — into Group E.
Bayern Munich — Group A.
Inter Milan — Group B.
FC Barcelona, the reigning champions, are next out — into Group H.
Arsenal last out from Pot 1 — into Group F.
17.11: More waffle from Uefa now, as Figo is replaced by Sir Bobby Charlton.
Drawing out of Pot 2 now. Lyon first out — into D, along with Real Madrid. Again.
Benfica into Group C, along with United.
Marseille in Group F with the Arsenal.
Valencia next out — into Group E along with Chelsea!
Shakhtar Donetsk into Group G, along with Porto.
AC Milan into Group H along with Barcelona.
Penultimately from Pot 2, Villarreal go into Group A along with Bayern.
CSKA Moscow the last out of this pot — into Group B along with Inter.
17.22: Former Chelsea boss Ruud Gullit takes over from Sir Bobby as the plucker of balls now…
Pot 3, here we go! Lille are first out — into Group B, along with Inter & CSKA.
Zenit St Petersburg out next — into Group G along with Porto & Shakhtar.
Ajax next up — into Group D along with Real & Lyon.
Olympiacos go into Group F, along with Arsenal & Marseille.
Man City are out — into Group A along with Bayern & Villarreal. Tough group.
Bayer Leverkusen into Group E, along with Chelsea & Valencia!
FC Basel out and into Group C, along with United & Benfica.
And BATE Borisov into Group H along with Barcá and Milan.
17.30: We’re almost there now, folks. One pot left to draw…
As some of you have pointed out, Michael Ballack will have the chance to return to the Bridge in Group E.
Pot 4…Napoli first out and into Group A, along with Bayern, Villarreal & City.
APOEL next out — into Group G, along with Porto, Shakhtar & Zenit.
Otelul Galati into Group C, along with United, Benfica & Basel.
Dinamo Zagreb into Group D, along with Real, Lyon and Ajax.
Viktoria Plzen from the Czech Republic go into Group H, along with Barcá, Milan and BATE Borisov.
Genk are out and into Group E, along with Chelsea, Valencia & Bayer Leverkusen.
Trabzonspor go into Group B, along with Inter, CSKA and Lille.
And Borussia Dortmund last out — into Group F, along with Arsenal, Marseille & Olympiacos.
17.40: And that concludes the draw from Monaco. Chelsea in Group E along with Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen and Genk.
Thanks for tuning in, folks. Hopefully we’ve been of some assistance to you.
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