UEFA Champions League draw: Full list of groups announced for 2021 UCL group stage

Simon Borg

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UEFA Champions League draw: Full list of groups announced for 2021 UCL group stage image

The UEFA Champions League group stage draw came through with the high-profile matchups that fans wanted to see.

Group B is simply jaw-dropping, with four continental powers — Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Porto and AC Milan — while tournament favorites Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain were drawn together in Group A. Now all that's left is for Cristiano Ronaldo to actually transfer to Manchester City as rumors suggest. If he does, it would set up a tasty showdown against PSG's Lionel Messi and Neymar. It's Champions League trophy or bust for both of those clubs.

Bayern Munich (Germany) will face Barcelona (Spain) and Chelsea (England) will lock horns with Juventus (Italy) in the other eye-catching matchups from the draw. Manchester United and Spain's Villarreal will also meet again in a rematch of the 2021 Europa League final.

Lastly, in a highly improbable scenario, Inter Milan (Italy), Real Madrid (Spain) and Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) were drawn into the same group for the second straight edition. 

All group-stage matches will be played in the six prescheduled windows: Sept. 14-15, Sept. 28-29, Oct. 19-20, Nov. 2-3, Nov. 23-24 and Dec. 7-8.

Champions League draw groups

Group A

Pot 1: Manchester City (England)
Pot 2: Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Pot 3: RB Leipzig (Germany)
Pot 4: Club Brugge (Belgium)

Group B

Pot 1: Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Pot 2: Liverpool (England)
Pot 3: Porto (Portugal)
Pot 4: AC Milan (Italy)

Group C

Pot 1: Sporting CP (Portugal)
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Pot 3: Ajax (Netherlands)
Pot 4: Besiktas (Turkey)

Group D

Pot 1: Inter Milan (Italy)
Pot 2: Real Madrid (Spain)
Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Pot 4: Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)

Group E

Pot 1: Bayern Munich (Germany)
Pot 2: FC Barcelona (Spain)
Pot 3: Benfica (Portugal)
Pot 4: Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)

Group F

Pot 1: Villarreal (Spain)
Pot 2: Manchester United (England)
Pot 3: Atalanta (Italy)
Pot 4: BSC Young Boys (Switzerland)

Group G

Pot 1: LOSC Lille (France)
Pot 2: Sevilla (Spain)
Pot 3: RB Salzburg (Austria)
Pot 4: VfL Wolfsburg (Germany)

Group H

Pot 1: Chelsea (England)
Pot 2: Juventus (Italy)
Pot 3: Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia)
Pot 4: Malmo FF (Sweden)

Champions League draw updates

All times ET

1:17 p.m.: The Coaches of the Year and the Players of the Year were named to wrap up the show:

  • Player of the Year: Men - Jorginho (Chelsea), Women - Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona)
  • Coach of the Year: Men - Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea), Women - Lluís Cortes (FC Barcelona)

1:07 p.m.: POT 4 - The final eight teams will fill out the rest of the groups. The first club drawn is BSC Young Boys.

1:04 p.m.: Now it's time for the top forwards from last year's UEFA Champions League tournament:

  • Forwards: Men - Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Women - Jennifer Hermoso (FC Barcelona)

12:56 p.m.: POT 3 - The next eight teams will be placed. Shakhtar were drawn first.

12:54 p.m.: We have our two Midfielders of the Year:

  • Midfielders: Men - N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Women - Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona)

12:48 p.m.: Man City and PSG are in the same group! If Ronaldo heads to Man City, that sets up a juicy matchup against Lionel Messi and Neymar. They'd have to play twice (home and away).

12:44 p.m.: POT 2 - Time for the Pot 2 draw. Things are moving fast now. Borussia Dortmund are the first name. Remember, now the restrictions kick in. Teams from the same country can't be in the same group and the TV pairings have to be respected (if one team from the pairings lands in Groups A-D, then the other HAS to go into Group E-H and vice versa).

12:42 p.m.: Now a break for the Defender of the Year awards:

  • Defenders: Men - Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Women - Irene Paredes (ex-Paris Saint-Germain)

12:38 p.m.: POT 1 - Manchester City is the first name drawn from Pot 1. These teams will go in each available group (in order) as they're drawn. Ivanovic is handling all the Pot 1 teams. Chelsea is the last team drawn into Group H.

12:37 p.m.: We're finally seeing club logos. They're running through all the teams in Pot 1. Looks like we'll be starting there.

12:32 p.m.: UEFA's Giorgio Marchetti takes the stage. He's the familiar face who leads the draw. Now there's a video explaining how it all works. There are computers involved.

12:28 p.m.: It's time for one of the awards. Goalkeepers go first. 

  • Goalkeepers: Men - Edouard Mendy (Chelsea), Women - Sandra Paños (FC Barcelona)

12:26 p.m.: Wow. Neat little tidbit: Ivanovic scored the first goal in the St. Petersburg stadium that will host the final. It opened in 2017 in advance of the 2018 World Cup.

12:21 p.m.: Next up on the program is the introduction for two ex-Chelsea players helping to conduct the draw: defender Branislav Ivanovic and Michael Essien.

12:08 p.m.: UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin up on the stage. He will recognize those who helped Christian Eriksen survive cardiac arrest at the Euros, including captain Simon Kjaer. In a video message Kjaer said: "I accept this award with my team and only with my team." The medical staff are in Istanbul and they're all walking up to the stage to accept the awards.

12:02 p.m.: OK. The show is starting. Stand by for updates. They started out with a highlight sizzle from last season with empty stadiums. Hopefully, that footage is permanently archived.

11:45 a.m.: So much for everyone being at the draw. But it looks like AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund will have representation:

11:33 a.m.: We're all Sheriff fans in this Champions League. First time in the Champions League group stage. Biggest underdogs.

11:15 a.m.: You know we'll be getting a moment or two just like the one Francesco shares here:

9:06 a.m.: Here's a subplot that everyone will also be paying attention to in Istanbul. With the big clubs present for the draw, there is probably some negotiating that will be happening:

7:11 a.m.: Here's our Champions League draw presenter for today:

How the group stage draw worked

The 32 teams were divided into four pots containing eight teams each. A name from each pot was drawn for each of Group A through Group H.

The eight teams in Pot 1 were predetermined: The pot consisted of the Champions League holders (Chelsea), the Europa League holders (Villarreal CF) and the champions of the top six-ranked associations: Spain (Atletico Madrid), England (Manchester City), Germany (Bayern Munich), Italy (Inter Milan), France (Lille), and Portugal (Sporting CP).

The rest of the pots were broken out based on each club’s UEFA club coefficients. Here was the list of teams in each pot in the order of their coefficient score.

Pot 1

  • Bayern Munich (Germany) - 134
  • Manchester City (England) - 125
  • Atlético Madrid (Spain) - 115
  • Chelsea (England) - 98
  • Villarreal (Spain / UEFA Europa League holders) - 63
  • Inter Milan (Italy) - 53
  • Sporting CP (Portugal) - 45.5
  • LOSC Lille (France) - 14

Pot 2

  • Real Madrid (Spain) - 127
  • FC Barcelona (Spain) - 122
  • Juventus (Italy) - 120
  • Manchester United (England) - 113
  • Paris Saint-Germain (France) - 113
  • Liverpool (England) - 101
  • Sevilla (Spain) - 98
  • Borussia Dortmund (Germany) - 90

Pot 3

  • FC Porto (Portugal) - 87
  • Ajax (Netherlands) - 82.5
  • Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine) - 79
  • RB Leipzig (Germany) - 66
  • RB Salzburg (Austria) - 59
  • Benfica (Portugal) - 58
  • Atalanta (Italy) - 50.5
  • Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia) - 50

Pot 4

  • Besiktas (Turkey) - 49
  • Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) - 47
  • Club Brugge (Belgium) - 35.5
  • BSC Young Boys (Switzerland) - 35
  • AC Milan (Italy) - 31
  • Malmo FF (Sweden) - 18.5
  • VfL Wolfsburg (Germany) - 14.5
  • Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) - 14.5

Draw Restrictions: Teams were not allowed to be drawn into groups against teams from their own country. On top of that, to maximize television audiences, UEFA goes a step further to make sure that certain teams from the same country aren't drawn into groups that play on the same day. That way Barcelona and Real Madrid, for example, don't play at the same time, which would cannibalize the TV audience in Spain, let alone around the world.

Here's how UEFA pulled this off: Prior to the draw, organizers identified the teams they wanted to ensure play on separate days. If one of those teams was drawn into Groups A-D, then the other team had to be drawn into one of Groups E-H, thus guaranteeing the two teams never play on the same day. The same was true if one of the flagged teams was drawn in Groups E-H (the other team then had to be drawn in one of Groups A-D). Here are the teams that UEFA announced would not be playing on the same day: 

  • England: Chelsea & Manchester City
  • England: Manchester United & Liverpool
  • France: LOSC Lille & Paris Saint-Germain
  • Germany: Bayern Munich & Borussia Dortmund
  • Germany: RB Leipzig & VfL Wolfsburg
  • Italy: Inter Milan & Juventus
  • Italy: Atalanta & AC Milan
  • Portugal: Porto & Benfica
  • Spain: Real Madrid & Barcelona
  • Spain: Atlético Madrid & Sevilla
  • Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk & Dynamo Kiev

UEFA Awards

Here's the list of awards that were handed out in Istanbul based on last year's Men's and Women's UEFA Champions League seasons (2020-2021):

Men's Player of the Year

  • Winner: Jorginho (Chelsea)
  • Runners-up: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)

Men's Goalkeeper of the Year

  • Winner: Édouard Mendy (Chelsea)
  • Runners-up: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Ederson (Manchester City)

Men's Defender of the Year

  • Winner: Rúben Dias (Manchester City)
  • Runners-up: César Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea)

Men's Midfielder of the Year

  • Winner: N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea)
  • Runners-up: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Jorginho (Chelsea)

Men's Forward of the Year

  • Winner: Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
  • Runners-up: Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Men's Coach of the Year

  • Winner: Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea)
  • Runners-up: Josep Guardiola (Manchester City), Roberto Mancini (Italy)

Women's Player of the Year

  • Winner: Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona)
  • Runners-up: Jennifer Hermoso (FC Barcelona), Lieke Martens (FC Barcelona)

Women's Goalkeeper of the Year

  • Winner: Sandra Paños (FC Barcelona)
  • Runners-up: Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea), Christiane Endler (ex-Paris Saint-Germain)

Women's Defender of the Year

  • Winner: Irene Paredes (ex-Paris Saint-Germain)
  • Runners-up: Magdalena Eriksson (Chelsea), Mapi León (FC Barcelona)

Women's Midfielder of the Year

  • Winner: Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona)
  • Runners-up: Aitana Bonmatí (FC Barcelona), Ji So-yun (Chelsea)

Women's Forward of the Year

  • Winner: Jennifer Hermoso (FC Barcelona)
  • Runners-up: Caroline Graham Hansen (FC Barcelona), Lieke Martens (FC Barcelona)

Women's Coach of the Year

  • Winner: Lluís Cortes (FC Barcelona)
  • Runners-up: Peter Gerhardsson (Sweden), Emma Hayes (Chelsea FC Women)

Simon Borg

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Simon Borg is a senior editor at The Sporting News who has covered football/soccer for over a decade. A supporter of Italian club Parma Calcio from his years growing up in Europe, he was previously a long-time member of Major League Soccer's digital media team, as a multimedia content producer, on-air personality, and Editor-in-Chief. Based in New York City, Borg is multilingual and has covered the domestic and global scene for TSN since 2021.