Liverpool drop down to pot three as Premier League quartet await Champions League fate
The draw for the pool phase begins at 6pm CET on Thursday at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool are set to discover their Champions League group-stage opponents.
The draw for the pool phase begins at 6pm CET on Thursday at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
There are four pots of eight teams, with one team from each pot forming a group, although teams from the same association cannot face each other.
Premier League champions City, eliminated by Liverpool in the quarter-finals last term, are in pot one along with defending champions Real Madrid, Europa League winners Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Paris St Germain and Lokomotiv Moscow.
United and Spurs, who both exited at the last-16 stage in 2017-18, are in pot two, which also features Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Benfica, Napoli and Roma.
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool will be in pot three alongside Schalke, Lyon, Monaco, Ajax, CSKA Moscow, Valencia and PSV Eindhoven.
Qualification for the group stage was completed on Wednesday evening when Benfica beat Greek side PAOK Salonika, Dutch champions PSV overcame BATE Borisov, and Red Star Belgrade defeated Red Bull Salzburg on away goals.
Serbian champions Red Star, winners in 1991, will be in pot four with Viktoria Plzen, Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Young Boys, Inter Milan, Hoffenheim and AEK Athens.
Thursday's ceremony will also see the winners of the Uefa Player Awards announced.
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah is on the shortlist for the men's player of the year award, along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric.
Ronaldo - now with Juventus - and Modric were part of the Real Madrid side that beat Liverpool 3-1 in last season's final in Kiev as the Spanish club won the competition for a third successive year.
The first round of Champions League group matches take place on 18 and 19 September, with the final to be held at Atletico Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on 1 June.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments