UEFA Champions League group stage draw

When and where was the draw?

The 2021/22 UEFA Champions League group stage draw took place at 18:00 CET on Thursday 26 August in Istanbul, Turkey. Special guests Branislav Ivanović and Michael Essien assisted with the draw.

Draw result

Group A: Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Leipzig, Club Brugge
Group B: Atlético Madrid, Liverpool, Porto, AC Milan
Group C: Sporting CP, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax, Beşiktaş
Group D: Inter, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sheriff Tiraspol
Group E: Bayern, Barcelona, Benfica, Dynamo Kyiv
Group F: Villarreal, Manchester United, Atalanta, Young Boys
Group G: LOSC Lille, Sevilla, Salzburg, Wolfsburg
Group H: Chelsea, Juventus, Zenit , Malmö

Pots and seedings

Pot 1
Chelsea (ENG) 98.000
Villarreal (ESP) 63.000
Bayern (GER) 134.000
Manchester City (ENG) 125.000
Atlético Madrid (ESP) 115.000
Inter (ITA) 53.000
Sporting CP (POR) 45.500
LOSC Lille (FRA) 14.000

Pot 2
Real Madrid (ESP) 127.000
Barcelona (ESP) 122.000
Juventus (ITA) 120.000
Manchester United (ENG) 113.000
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 113.000
Liverpool (ENG) 101.000
Sevilla (ESP) 98.000
Borussia Dortmund (GER) 90.000

Pot 3
Porto (POR) 87.000
Ajax (NED) 82.500
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 79.000
Leipzig (GER) 66.000
Salzburg (AUT) 59.000
Benfica (POR) 58.000
Atalanta (ITA) 50.500
Zenit (RUS) 50.000

Pot 4
Beşiktaş (TUR) 49.000
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 47.000
Club Brugge (BEL) 35.500
Young Boys (SUI) 35.000
AC Milan (ITA) 31.000
Malmö (SWE) 18.500
Wolfsburg (GER) 14.714
Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA) 14.500

Draw procedure

• The teams were split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 consisted of the holders, the UEFA Europa League winners and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations who did not qualify via one of the 2020/21 titles; Pots 2 to 4 were determined by the club coefficient rankings.
• No team could play a side from their own association.
• In the case of associations with two representatives, clubs were paired in order to split their matches between Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In the case of associations with four representatives, two pairings were made. These pairings were based on TV audiences.
• The top two teams in each group advance to the round of 16.
• The third-placed sides in each group transfer to the UEFA Europa League knockout stage, where they will face the UEFA Europa League group runners-up for places in the last 16.

Which clubs are paired?

To ensure that paired clubs from the same country played on separate days where possible, the eight groups were distinguished by colour: Groups A to D are red and Groups E to H are blue. When a paired club was drawn, for example, in one of the red groups (A, B, C or D), the other paired club – once it had been drawn – was automatically assigned to one of the four blue groups (E, F, G or H). The pairings were as follows:

A Chelsea & Manchester City
B Atlético de Madrid & Sevilla
C Inter & Juventus
D Bayern & Dortmund
E LOSC Lille & Paris Saint-Germain
F Real Madrid & Barcelona
G Man. United & Liverpool
H Porto & Benfica
I Shakhtar & Dynamo Kyiv
J Leipzig & Wolfsburg
K Atalanta & AC Milan

Match dates?

Matchday 1: 14/15 September
Matchday 2: 28/29 September
Matchday 3: 19/20 October
Matchday 4: 2/3 November
Matchday 5: 23/24 November
Matchday 6: 7/8 December