UPDATE IN LIGHT OF NOT BEING PAIRED WITH CHELSEA:
Draw broadcast on BT Europe & Radio 5 Live begins on Thursday 27th August @4:30pm GMT with the first heated/chilled ball pulled out of the fix machine at 4:45pm
The draw pots are as follows - based on club coefficients at the end of last season:
Pot 1 (Champions):
FC Barcelona (ESP, holders) coefficient: 164.999 (Ranked 1st as Holders)
Chelsea FC (ENG) 142.078 (Ranked 2nd as PL is highest ranked league)
FC Bayern München (GER) 154.883 (Ranked 3rd as next highest ranked league)
Juventus (ITA) 95.102
SL Benfica (POR) 118.276
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 100.483
FC Zenit (RUS) 90.099
PSV Eindhoven (NED) 58.195
Pot 2:
Real Madrid CF (ESP) 171.999
Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) 120.999
FC Porto (POR) 111.276
Arsenal FC (ENG) 110.078
Manchester United FC (ENG) 103.078 [Q1}
Valencia CF (ESP) 99.999 [Q2]
Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) 87.883 [Q3]
Manchester City FC (ENG) 87.078
Pot 3:
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 86.033 [Q4]
Sevilla FC (ESP) 80.499
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) 72.983
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 65.033
Olympiacos FC (GRE) 62.380
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) 55.599 [Q5]
Galatasaray AŞ (TUR) 50.020
AS Roma (ITA) 43.602
Pot 4:
VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) 33.883
VfL Wolfsburg (GER) 31.883
FC BATE Borisov (BLR) 35.150 [Q6]
GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 24.700 [Q7]
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) 18.200 [Q8]
KAA Gent (BEL) 13.440
Malmö FF (SWE) 12.545 [Q9]
FC Astana (KAZ) 3.825 [Q10] KAZ = Kazakhstan
10 Qualifiers from play-off games
5 Play-Off Winners (League Qualifying Route):
AS Monaco FC (FRA) 31.483 -OR-
Valencia CF (ESP) 99.999 (Agg: 3-4) -> Valencia into Pot 2.
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 86.033 -OR- SK Rapid Wien (AUT) 15.635 (Agg: 3-3) -> Shakhtar into pot 3 on away goals.
Club Brugge KV (BEL) 41.440 -OR-
Manchester United FC (ENG) 103.078 (Agg: 1-7) -> Utd into pot 2.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) 87.883 -OR- SS Lazio (ITA) 49.102 (Agg: 3-1) -> Bayer into pot 2.
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) 55.599 -OR- Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR) 56.276 (Agg: 4-3) -> CSKA into Pot 3.
5 Play-Off Winners (Champions Route):
GNK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 24.700 -OR- KF Skënderbeu (ALB) 5.575 (Agg: 6-2) -> Dinamo into Pot 4.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) 18.200 -OR- FC Basel 1893 (SUI) 84.875 (Agg: 3-3) -> Maccabi into Pot 4 on away goals.
Malmö FF (SWE) 12.545 -OR- Celtic FC (SCO) 39.080 (Agg: 4-3) -> Malmö into Pot 4.
APOEL FC (CYP) 35.460 -OR-
FC Astana (KAZ) 3.825 (Agg: 1-2) -> Astana into Pot 4.
FK Partizan (SRB) 14.775 -OR-
FC BATE Borisov (BLR) 35.150 (Agg: 2-2) -> Bate into Pot 4 on away goals.
Draw Groups, Red/Blue Groups and Sides of the Draw:
If the Draw is arranged as previously then...
- Champions League Groups A to D are 'red' groups and on the 'red' side of the draw.
- Champions League Groups E to H are 'blue' groups and on the 'blue' side of the draw.
- The 'blue' side of the draw (Groups E to H) is the other side of the draw to the 'red side' of the draw (Groups A to D). Similarly, the 'red' side of the draw is the other side of the draw to the 'blue' side of the draw.
Special Draw Rules:
- Russian and Ukrainian teams will not be able to play each other!
Pot 1 Draw Balancing:
- Odd teams in Pot 1 will be on the RED side of the the draw and but put in groups (A,B,C or D). That's FC Barcelona (ESP, holders), FC Bayern München (GER), SL Benfica (POR), FC Zenit (RUS).
- Even teams in Pot 2 will be on the BLUE side of the the draw and but put in groups (E,F,G or H). That's Chelsea FC (ENG), Juventus (ITA), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), PSV Eindhoven (NED).
TV pairing principle:
- Once one team in a TV pairing is drawn to a red group (A to D) or blue group (E to H) then the second team in the TV pairing can only be drawn to a group on the other side of the draw. Examples [1] if Barcelona are drawn to Group C (a red group) then their pair (normally Real Madrid) can only be placed in a blue group (E-H). [2] If Barcelona are drawn to Group F (a blue group) then their pair (normally Real Madrid) can only be placed in a red group (A-D).
Best Guess at TV pairings:
- England [1]#: Arsenal [Pot 2] & Manchester City[Pot 2].
- England [2]#: Chelsea [Pot 1] & Manchester United [Pot 2].
- France (FRA): Paris Saint-Germain [Pot 1] & Olympique Lyonnais [Pot 3].
- Germany [1]%: Bayern Munich [Pot 1] & VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach [Pot 4].
- Germany [2]%: Bayer 04 Leverkusen [Pot 2] & VfL Wolfsburg [Pot 4].
- Italy (ITA): Juventus [Pot 1] & Roma (Pot 3].
- Portugal (POR): SL Benfica [Pot 1] & FC Porto [Pot 2].
- Russia (RUS): FC Zenit [Pot 1] & PFC CSKA Moskva [Pot 3].
- Spain (ESP) [1]*: FC Barcelona [Pot 1] & Real Madrid [Pot 2].
- Spain (ESP) [2]%: Atlético de Madrid [pot 2] & Valencia CF [Pot 2]
- Ukraine (UKR): FC Dynamo Kyiv [Pot 2] & FC Shakhtar Donetsk [3].
Notes:
[1] * = This TV pairing is in a country with more than 2 teams in the draw. It is a pair that id NORMALLY set up by the countries broadcaster(s). That said there is no absolute guarantee that this pairing will be in place for this draw!
[2] # = In the dress rehearsal, City ended up on the same side of the draw as Chelsea. The good news is that this means we are not paired with Chelsea! I am assuming they are wanting a high rating game on the PPV broadcast night so we will probably be paired with Arsenal again.
[3] % = These TV pairings mean the teams with the highest average attendances play on separate evenings in the champions League.
