Champions League Official Live football scores & Fantasy
Get
UEFA.com works better on other browsers
For the best possible experience, we recommend using Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge.

Europe's finest set for group stage draw

English sides dominate the top seedings as 32 clubs await the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage draw, which will be streamed live on uefa.com from Monaco.

The UEFA Champions League trophy on display in Monaco
The UEFA Champions League trophy on display in Monaco ©Getty Images

English sides dominate the seedings for the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage draw which will take place from 18.00CET on Thursday at Monaco's Grimaldi Forum.

Qualifying concluded
Sixteen teams gained automatic entry to the competition proper and the same number came through the third qualifying round on Tuesday and Wednesday. Making their debut in the group stage are UEFA Cup holders FC Zenit St. Petersburg, CFR 1907 Cluj of Romania, the first Belarussian qualifiers, FC BATE Borisov, and the inaugural Cypriot entrants Anorthosis Famagusta FC. In all, 17 nations are represented in the draw, the ceremony for which will include the UEFA Club Football Awards.

Top seeds
As usual the 32 sides are split into four seeding pots, with one from each being drawn into the eight groups, though no team can meet another from the same association. All four English clubs are included in Pot 1 – holders Manchester United FC, last season's runners-up Chelsea FC, five-time winners Liverpool FC, and Arsenal FC – and alongside them are FC Barcelona, Olympique Lyonnais, FC Internazionale Milano and the competition's most successful side, Real Madrid CF.

Contenders
Among the teams in Pot 2 are both German entrants, FC Bayern München and Werder Bremen, 2004 winners FC Porto, and Juventus, back in the competition after a two-year absence. Placed in Pot 3 are former European champions Olympique de Marseille, FC Steaua Bucureşti and Celtic FC, plus Zenit and last term's quarter-finalists Fenerbahçe SK. Pot 4 features Club Atlético de Madrid, ACF Fiorentina and the two survivors from the first qualifying round, BATE and Anorthosis. Matchday 1 will be on 16/17 September, with fixtures continuing on 30 September/1 October, 21/22 October, 4/5 November, 25/26 November and 9/10 December. As usual the top two sides will progress to the first knockout round draw on 19 December while those finishing third will enter the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

Live streaming
The draw will be streamed live on uefa.com. Users need to register , at no cost, to access the live video coverage, and are encouraged to do so in advance as the registration procedure involves the activation of the account after receiving an email. If you have already registered simply log in here .

Pot 1
ClubCoefficent
1Manchester United FC (ENG, holders)107.996
2Chelsea FC (ENG)124.996
3Liverpool FC (ENG)118.996
4FC Barcelona (ESP)117.837
5Arsenal FC (ENG)110.996
6Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)99.380
7FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)96.934
8Real Madrid CF (ESP)93.837

Pot 2ClubCoefficent
9FC Bayern München (GER)92.078
10PSV Eindhoven (NED)91.610
11Villarreal CF (ESP)90.837
12AS Roma (ITA)81.934
13FC Porto (POR)81.176
14Werder Bremen (GER)74.078
15Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)67.176
16Juventus (ITA)66.934

Pot 3ClubCoefficent
17Olympique de Marseille (FRA)63.380
18FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)60.437
19FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU)59.398
20Panathinaikos FC (GRE)52.525
21FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA)52.380
22Celtic FC (SCO)52.013
23FC Basel 1893 (SUI)51.993
24Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)51.469

Pot 4ClubCoefficent
25FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)49.932
26ACF Fiorentina (ITA)40.934
27Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)36.837
28FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)34.932
29CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)13.398
30Aalborg BK (DEN)12.748
31Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP)4.327
32FC BATE Borisov (BLR)1.760