Champions League Draw 2016/17: Date, Time, Fixtures and UEFA Player of the year

With the domestic campaigns well underway now, all eyes are on the UEFA Champions League which kicks off next month.

The draw for the group stages are almost upon us and here at Soccerlens, we will bring you live coverage from the draw, which takes place on Thursday in Monaco.

Real Madrid will be looking to defend their European crown after having beaten arch rivals Atletico Madrid to the trophy last season. Spanish champions Barcelona will want to bounce back strongly after a disappointing European campaign last season.

Bayern Munich will be hoping for better luck in Europe under Carlo Ancelotti and the Premier League sides will want to fix their poor showing in Europe over the last few years.

The likes of Tottenham and Leicester will have a lot to prove in Europe. Both sides need to show that they are not present just to make up the numbers.

Arsenal and Manchester City will aim to improve their knockout round record and go all the way this season.

Date of draw: 25th of August 2016

Time: 17:00 pm BST

Venue: Monaco

Live Streaming: UEFA.com

The group stage of this season’s Champions League kicks off in September and will end in December. It will be spread out across six matchdays – 13/14 September, 27/28 September, 18/19 October, 1/2 November, 22/23 November and 6/7 December 2016.

Rules of the draw

• 32 teams will participate in the Champions League (22 teams qualify directly and 10 from playoffs).
• Pot One consists of the holders plus the champions of Spain, Germany, England, Italy, Portugal, France and Russia. The other three pots are decided by UEFA coefficient rankings.
• Teams from the same country are not drawn against each other.

Here are the pots for this season’s Champions League draw

Pot 1: Real Madrid (ESP, holders), Barcelona (ESP), Leicester City (ENG), Bayern München (GER), Juventus (ITA), Benfica (POR), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), CSKA Moskva (RUS)

Pot 2: Atlético Madrid (ESP), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Arsenal (ENG), Manchester City (ENG), Sevilla (ESP), Porto (POR), Napoli (ITA), Bayer Leverkusen (GER)

Pot 3: Basel (SUI), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), Dynamo Kyiv (UKR), Lyon (FRA), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Sporting CP (POR), Club Brugge (BEL), Mönchengladbach (GER)

Pot 4: Celtic (SCO), Monaco (FRA), Beşiktaş (TUR), Legia Warszawa (POL), Dinamo Zagreb (CRO), Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL), København (DEN), Rostov (RUS)

We will also find out who the UEFA player of the year is, today.

The #UEFABestPlayer will be announced after the #UCLdraw… pic.twitter.com/S4t2r5S4mv

— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 25, 2016

Group C

Barcelona
Manchester City
Borussia Monchengladbach
Celtic

Group G

Leicester City
FC Porto
Club Brugge
Kobenhavn

Group F

Real Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
Sporting
Legia

Group D

Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid
PSV Eindhoven
Rostov

Group B

Benfica
Napoli
Dynamo Kyiv
Besiktas

Group E

CSKA Moskva
Bayer Leverkusen
Tottenham
Monaco

Group A

Paris Saint-Germain
Arsenal
FC Basel
Ludogorets

Group H

Juventus
Sevilla
Lyon
Dinamo Zagreb

Here is how the Champions League draw looks

The official result of the #UCLdrawpic.twitter.com/WxbnD5tLEP

— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 25, 2016

One of Gareth Bale, Antoine Griezmann or Cristiano Ronaldo will soon be announced as the 2015/16 UEFA Best Player in Europe.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the 2015/16 #UEFABestPlayer in Europe!

Congratulations ??? pic.twitter.com/8SaiEbQcjX

— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 25, 2016