Tottenham land a DREAM group on their return to the Champions League... with Liverpool handed the toughest test of the English clubs, Chelsea drawing AC Milan and Haaland back at Dortmund

Hope you enjoyed today's live blog - that's all folks.

Catch you next time!

No time go through each Champions League group individually, so will put them all in here for you!

Group A: LIVERPOOL, Ajax, Napoli, RANGERS.

Group B: Atletico Madrid, Porto, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen.

Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, TOTTENHAM, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille.

Group E: AC Milan, CHELSEA, Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb.

Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, CELTIC.

Group G: MANCHESTER CITY, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, FC Copenhagen.

Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa.

Not a shock. The Real Madrid striker was outstanding last season.

Deserving winner. He wins it for the first time.

He picks out the amazing comeback against Paris Saint-Germain as his favourite moment.

Alexia Putellas, undoubtedly a wonderful player, but one who missed the Euros through injury.

Beth Mead, meanwhile, who was brilliant as England won the tournament, is overlooked. Hmm.

I'm obviously a biased Englishman but...

Nominated are: England's Beth Mead, Germany star Lena Oberdorf and Alexia Putellas.

And in contention for the men's award: Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, goalkeeping team-mate Thibaut Courtois and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

Ever the gentleman, he graciously thanks Arrigo Sacchi, who helped teach him when he was younger.

Sacchi beams from the crowd. He then tries - struggles, but gets there! - to name all his relatives, including his many grandchildren. Good stuff Mr Ancelotti.

Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp the nominees here.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin to present the award. Ancelotti the shoo-in...

And Carlo wins it! Don Carlo, possessing the most arching eyebrow in football, who of course led Real Madrid to European glory and to the LaLiga title in Spain.

England boss Sarina Wiegman, after leading the Lionesses to Euro 2022 glory, has bagged the UEFA Women's Coach of the Year award.

Congrats to Sarina - very well deserved.

LIVERPOOL, Ajax, Napoli, RANGERS.

A fascinating all-British tie in there. After Liverpool, it's fairly open for that second spot...

Gosh, this is exciting.

Up next from me: I'll give you a group-by-group recap of the draw. Here we go...

They are in Group C with Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Inter Milan.

Israeli side Maccabi Haifa will move into Group H with PSG, Juventus and Benfica.

Last team coming up!

The Croatian side are placed in Group E. They join AC Milan, Chelsea and Red Bull Salzburg.

Can't help feeling Chelsea have a very kind draw there!

Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side, who qualified yesterday against PSV in a play-off, are in Group A, with Ajax, Liverpool and Napoli.

Jurgen Klopp and his side will be quietly confident.

The Belgian outfit, finalists in 1978, where they lost against Liverpool, are up against Porto, Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen in Group B.

Four teams left...

The Danish champions are drawn with Manchester City, Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund in Group G.

A kind end to the group for City.

The southern French side join Tottenham, Eintracht Frankfurt and Sporting Lisbon in Group D.

Spurs fans rejoicing.

Ange Postecoglou's Bhoys face... Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk. in Group F.

They go into what looks like the 'Group of Death': Bayern Munich, Barcelona, now Inter.

Wowee.

They are in Group F... with RB Leipzig and Real Madrid.

Sporting Club de Portugal are into Group D - along with Eintracht Frankfurt and Tottenham.

Again - not the worst for Antonio Conte's side.

They are into Group B with Porto and Atletico Madrid.

That group looks quite open!

They're into Group G with Manchester City and Sevilla. Probably one of the best teams in Pot 3. Shame for City.

The Portuguese side are placed in Group H with PSG and Juventus. 

This looks a tough group!

The Austrian side will come up against AC Milan and Chelsea in Group E.

Thomas Tuchel's side will be licking their lips!

They will face Ajax and Liverpool in Group A!

They will play: Porto. Another decent draw there. Atleti will be happy with that.

Onto pot 3...

They're into Group E with Italian side AC Milan.

They're into Group C, with Bayern Munich. Oof.

Julen Lopetegui's men are matched up with Manchester City in Group G.

Tough one for Sevilla.

Jurgen Klopp's side, last season's losing finalists, will play Ajax. 

Again, a pretty good draw this time for the Reds.

They are into Group D, along with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Spurs will be privately quite pleased with that.

They will be in Group H - alongside Paris Saint-Germain.

Group F! The tough one! Real Madrid will face them.

That's it for Pot 1. NOW it gets really interesting as we see the match-ups arrive.

Pot 2 coming imminently..

The defending champions! Most teams will want to avoid this group.

Group E for Stefano Pioli's side.

The Europa League winners go into Group D.

Ajax go into Group A, Porto into Group B.

Pot 1 will be drawn first. 

It's too long-winded for me to explain the whole rubric and nuances of the draw. Basically, it's a very complicated computer algorithm that decides things.

Draw getting underway - here we go!

Altintop, of course, a former Bayern Munich and Real Madrid midfielder and Toure, well known to English fans, once of Barcelona and Manchester City.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is now up on stage, set to hand the President's Award over to Arrigo Sacchi.

Sacchi, of course, widely considered one of the best and most innovative managers of all time, and the all-conquering AC Milan side he managed one of the best teams of all time.

Reshmin Chowdhury is asking him questions in Italian, fair play.

Perhaps understandably, governing body UEFA are skimming over all the trouble before the final, which saw huge organisational issues, ticketing logjams, fans being treated with massively heavy-handed treatment by French police and targeted by local gangs.

That didn't make the pre-draw video montage, quelle surprise.

We're over to presenters Pedro Pinto of UEFA and Reshmin Chowdhury now in Istanbul, away from BT's Jake Humphrey, which, I dare say, may not displease football fans too greatly.

There are, of course, a few restrictions in place for the group stage draw.

The main one is that two clubs from the same country cannot be paired in the same group - so top seeds Manchester City will not be playing against Chelsea, Liverpool or Tottenham.

Various clubs from the same country have been paired up so they can't play on the same evening and there is a colour-coded system in place during the draw to keep them apart.

It basically all concerns TV audiences, so, to name one example, Barcelona and Real Madrid aren't both playing on the same evening when Spanish fans want to watch both of them.

Here are the various pairings:
A: Real Madrid & Barcelona
B: Frankfurt & Leipzig
C: Man City & Liverpool
D: AC Milan & Napoli
E: Bayern & Dortmund
F: Paris & Marseille
G: Porto & Benfica
H: Chelsea & Tottenham
I: Juventus & Inter
J: Atlético de Madrid & Sevilla
K: Rangers & Celtic

Today we have the usual 32 teams being drawn into eight groups of four.

The top two in each of those eight groups will advance into the last-16 with the third-placed side dropping into the UEFA Europa League and the fourth side eliminated.

They have all been split into four pots for the purposes of the draw based largely on whether they are national champions and also their UEFA coefficient.

Here are the four pots in full:

Pot 1
Real Madrid (ESP, Champions League holders)
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER, Europa League holders)
Manchester City (ENG)
AC Milan (ITA)
Bayern München (GER)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Porto (POR)
Ajax (NED)

Pot 2
Liverpool (ENG)
Chelsea (ENG)
Barcelona (ESP)
Juventus (ITA)
Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Sevilla (ESP)
Leipzig (GER)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)

Pot 3
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Salzburg (AUT)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Inter (ITA)
Napoli (ITA)
Benfica (POR)
Sporting CP (POR)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)

Pot 4
Rangers (SCO)
Dinamo (CRO)
Marseille (FRA)
Copenhagen (DEN)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Celtic (SCO)
Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
Maccabi Haifa (ISR)

Afternoon all! I'm taking over from the incomparable Adam Shergold.

The draw is set to be around 10-15 minutes away in Istanbul, and of course, I'll be keeping you right up to date with it.

Don't go anywhere!

With the draw ceremony now fast approaching, I've only been able to get through pots one and two in our club-by-club guide.

If you'd like the full lowdown on all the other 16 clubs, then luckily here's one I made earlier...

Things are definitely happening at Tottenham, where some astute summer transfer business has left Antonio Conte and his team in a position to challenge for long-overdue silverware.

They pipped Arsenal to a Champions League spot at the end of last season and will be determined to make the most of it and go as deep as possible.

There's every reason to think this current Spurs has the strength in depth and quality to give anyone in Europe a decent game this season.

Whether they can replicate their remarkable run to the 2019 final under Mauricio Pochettino is another matter.

ONE TO WATCH: Richarlison - The Brazilian has never played in European competition so it will be exciting to see whether he can torment a few top-level defences.

He is among a series of exciting summer signings who will embrace the task of taking Spurs into Europe's top competition again.

LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN

Spurs were in the Europa Conference League last term and it all ended in acrimony when they had to forfeit their final group game against Rennes because of an outbreak of Covid within the squad.

UEFA awarded the game 3-0 to the French side and Spurs duly missed out on passage to the knockout stages in a competition they may well have won.

Mind you, they didn't exactly cover themselves in glory by losing to both Vitesse and Slovenian minnows Mura prior to their unceremonious exit.

DANGER RATING: 3/5

A few years back, it looked as though these rich upstarts from Leipzig could genuinely challenge Bayern Munich at the summit of the Bundesliga.

It hasn't worked out that way and they regressed from second to fourth last season despite winning the cup as a consolation, their first major silverware.

Domenico Tedesco couldn't prevent them slipping out the Champions League last season but they did reach the Europa League semi-finals, losing out to an inspired Rangers side at Ibrox.

They're dreaming of emulating their run to the semi-finals in 2020 but having lost a number of key players over the summer, it looks a tall order.

They do have Timo Werner back after two seriously underwhelming seasons at Chelsea and will hope he can scale the same heights he did during his first spell.

ONE TO WATCH - Timo Werner - It has to be him. The prodigal son is back from a torrid time in the Premier League and will hope to remind everyone of his class.

Werner netted 11 goals in 22 European outings for Leipzig first time around and also scored a few for Chelsea as well, so can definitely cut it at this level.

LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN

Jesse Marsch is now thriving at Leeds but he stumbled in last season's Champions League group stage as they lost their first three games to Manchester City, Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain.

It was admittedly a devilish group and Leipzig unsurprisingly entered the Europa League. Having overcome Real Sociedad they received a bye to the last eight when Spartak Moscow were expelled.

Having stylishly overcome Atalanta, they were rolled over by Rangers to miss out on a first European final appearance.

DANGER RATING: 2/5

Diego Simeone's side have been in the conversation when it comes to the latter stages of the Champions League but in recent seasons they have been unable to make the kind of breakthrough seen when they reached the 2014 and 2016 finals.

Having dealt with Manchester United in the last-16, they pushed Manchester City mighty close in the quarter-finals, losing out only to a Kevin De Bruyne goal in the first leg at the Etihad.

It was a frustrating one, especially as Atletico were unable to keep themselves on top in the domestic league as well.

Summer arrivals have been pretty modest and last weekend's 2-0 home defeat to Villarreal raised a few unwanted questions. Nonetheless, you'd expect to see them in the knockout stages.

ONE TO WATCH: Matheus Cunha - One of the one million players linked with Man United this summer, the Brazilian forward is regarded as a real talent.

At 23, he's the kind of exciting young player who could drag Atletico back to prominence and beyond the likes of Luis Suarez.

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They lost three of their group games, including home and away to Liverpool, and yet still managed to sneak through in second place ahead of Porto and AC Milan.

Lodi's goal at Old Trafford saw them past Manchester United but they were squeezed out by City on their return visit to England's north-west in the quarters.

DANGER RATING: 2/5

Juve have seen their domestic dominance fade in the last couple of seasons as the balance of power in Serie A has shifted from Turin to Milan.

That has also translated into the disappointing Champions League performances since they were runners-up in 2017. Indeed, they've exited in the last-16 in each of the last three seasons and that isn't good enough.

Last season saw a calamitous late collapse to lose 3-0 at home to Villarreal after they'd gained a favourable first leg draw.

With the return of Paul Pogba and the acquisition of Angel Di Maria over the summer, you'd expect them to perform a little better.

ONE TO WATCH: Paul Pogba - The Frenchman has ensured he continues in Europe's top competition after leaving Manchester United following the expiry of his contract.

He was a tour de force the first time around in the black and white stripes and we'll see how he adapts. Will he be the catalyst to restore past glories to Juve?

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Juventus were able to weather a 4-0 hiding by Chelsea by winning all five of their other group games last season.

But they really let themselves down in losing 4-1 on aggregate to Villarreal, cracking under pressure once again when it mattered in the knockout stages. Must do better.

DANGER RATING: 3/5

What an extraordinary summer it's been for Barcelona, who continue to pretend that their £1billion worth of debt just doesn't exist.

There have been all manner of financial maneuverings, including the sale of future commercial earnings, to free up some transfer budget to strengthen Xavi's squad and make a decent first of their LaLiga and Champions League campaigns.

They've hardly held back in the market, with Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Raphinha and Andreas Christensen among headline names signed at considerable expense.

Barca haven't even been able to register everyone with the Spanish league but will hope UEFA allows a bit more leeway as they try and improve on last season's shocker in European competition.

ONE TO WATCH: Robert Lewandowski - 34 years of age but certainly not over the hill, Lewandowski has been astonishingly prolific for Bayern over recent seasons, with a stunning return of 69 goals in 78 Champions League outings.

Barcelona will be happy with just a fraction of that scoring prowess as they try and become a continental force once again.

LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN

Was a real debacle as they finished third behind Bayern and Benfica in their group, having taken three-goal pastings off both along the way.

They were nonetheless favourites in the Europa League but after seeing off Napoli and Galatasaray, they crashed out to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt in a shocking collapse at the Nou Camp.

DANGER RATING: 3/5

It's been a summer of change at Chelsea and they will embark on their first Champions League campaign without Roman Abramovich as their owner since 2003.

Todd Boehly has certainly come in and splashed the cash, however, and an assault on the trophy they won in 2021 will be high amongst their list of objectives.

They were valiant in the second leg of their quarter-final against Real Madrid, having been mauled by Benzema at Stamford Bridge, but came up just short.

Plenty of question marks remain about where exactly Chelsea are at the moment but the additions of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly should help their cause.

ONE TO WATCH: Raheem Sterling - Ready for a new challenge after seven successful seasons with Manchester City, the England forward offers a wealth of Champions League experience.

That should prove immensely valuable when it comes to those crunch knockout ties decided by one moment of magic.

LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN

Having finished second behind Juventus in the group, Tuchel's side were slightly fortunate to draw Lille in the last-16 and they dispatched the French champions comfortably.

Their quarter-final tie with Real looked dead and buried after a 3-1 defeat in the first leg but Chelsea forced extra time in the return before Benzema finally killed them off.

DANGER RATING: 3/5

Having come so close last season, Liverpool will be champing at the bit for another crack at Europe's top prize.

The 2019 winners eliminated Inter Milan, Benfica and Villarreal en route to Paris, having recorded a perfect record in the group stage, but Real proved a bridge too far for Jurgen Klopp's men.

We're not too sure if the Reds are in better shape this season compared to last, when their Quadruple pursuit went to the very last week of the season.

Sadio Mane's departure to Bayern will be keenly felt after he scored five Champions League goals last season and they haven't exactly started well in the Premier League.

ONE TO WATCH: Darwin Nunez - Liverpool have gone big on the Uruguayan striker in an effort to keep up with Man City and Erling Haaland.

£64million was the final price tag and that could rise with future success. He has a couple of seasons' worth of Champions League experience with Benfica and there should be plenty more to come.

LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN

So near and yet so far as they lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in the final despite creating plenty of chances they couldn't take. Ultimately, a lapse by Trent Alexander-Arnold allowed Vinicius to score the winner.

These are the fine margins in top-level European football as Klopp and his players know only too well.

DANGER RATING: 4/5

Best-case scenario: Ajax, RB Leipzig, Sporting Lisbon

Worst-case scenario: Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan

There is Scottish representation in the group stages for the first time since 2017. Celtic earned an automatic spot as domestic champions and Rangers progressed past Union Saint-Gilloise and PSV in the qualifying rounds. Both are in Pot 4 so face a potentially tricky group.

While Eintracht Frankfurt - who beat Rangers in last season's Europa League final - are probably the easiest option in Pot 1, we have gone with Ajax as a best-case scenario so that a meeting with RB Leipzig - who the Gers defeated in the semi-finals - from Pot 2 is possible. Sporting Lisbon from Pot 3 would complete a group that would be the easiest to get out of.

There are all manner of nightmare draws that the two Glasgow clubs could face, but last season's Champions League finalists Real Madrid and Liverpool, along with an Inter Milan team who have finished first or second in Serie A in the last three years, is surely the worst of the possibilities.

As always with these things, there are a few restrictions in place for the group stage draw.

The main one is that two clubs from the same country cannot be paired in the same group - so top seeds Manchester City will not be playing against Chelsea, Liverpool or Tottenham.

Various clubs from the same country have been paired up so they can't play on the same evening and there is a colour-coded system in place during the draw to keep them apart.

It basically all concerns TV audiences, so, to name one example, Barcelona and Real Madrid aren't both playing on the same evening when Spanish fans want to watch both of them.

Here are the various pairings:
A Real Madrid & Barcelona
B Frankfurt & Leipzig
C Man City & Liverpool
D AC Milan & Napoli
E Bayern & Dortmund
F Paris & Marseille
G Porto & Benfica
H Chelsea & Tottenham
I Juventus & Inter
J Atlético de Madrid & Sevilla
K Rangers & Celtic

A summer of change at the Champions League perennials from Holland. Erik ten Hag signed off with another title triumph before taking on the challenge of managing Man United.

Alfred Schreuder has replaced him and will aim to continue their recent domestic supremacy as well as performing a bit better in the Champions League after they lost to Benfica in last season's last-16.

There has been plenty of upheaval within the team as well (not uncommon at Ajax) after Lisandro Martinez, Gravenberch and Sebastien Haller all departed.

They have recruited the likes of Steven Bergwijn, Calvin Bassey, Brian Brobbey and Owen Wijndal to try and keep things moving along.

ONE TO WATCH: Antony - Obviously there's the massive caveat of whether he will still be at Ajax come the start of the group phase.

They are currently staving off interest from Man United and demanding £100m for the Brazilian winger, the type of sum that confirms just how exciting a player he is.

LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN

Ten Hag's Ajax absolutely walked the group stage with six wins from six. Including home and away successes over Dortmund with a aggregate score of 7-1.

So given that, it was hugely disappointing to be edged out 3-2 on aggregate by Benfica in the first of the knockout rounds.

DANGER RATING: 2/5

Fans of Arsenal and Manchester United can only watch on longingly at today's Champions League draw, but they will both be in the equivalent for the Europa League tomorrow.

The second legs of the Play-off round ties will be completed tonight, meaning we'll know all the sides they could potentially get.

Find out all about the Europa draw by clicking below.

Best-case scenario: Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon, Maccabi Haifa

Worst-case scenario: Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Marseille

Tottenham are the lowest-ranked English side and the lowest-ranked team in Pot 2, so may be the 'best-case scenario' for many foreign clubs despite their encouraging start to the season.

Spurs themselves will want Eintracht Frankfurt from Pot 1, but may also fancy a first meeting with Ajax since their dramatic Champions League semi-final against Dutch side in 2019. They have won just once in six meetings against both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich so unsurprisingly they will be keen to avoid those clubs.

Former Tottenham prospect Marcus Edwards now plays for Sporting but is unlikely to cause Antonio Conte's side too many problems if they are pulled out from Pot 3. A clash with Inter Milan would evoke memories of Gareth Bale's hat-trick at the San Siro in 2010 but Spurs lost that game and may struggle again against the Nerazzurri.

A hat-trick that did help Spurs to a win was Harry Kane's treble in a 7-2 thrashing of Maccabi Haifa in Europa League qualifying in 2020, so they would look forward to facing the Israeli outfit again.

A worst-case scenario meeting with Marseille from Pot 4 would see them come up against ex-Arsenal trio Matteo Guendouzi, Nuno Tavares and Alexis Sanchez.

Porto enjoyed an excellent campaign domestically, losing just the one league game to finish six points clear of Sporting Lisbon at the top and 17 ahead of Benfica. Sergio Conceicao's team added the cup for good measure.

They have hit a quarter-final ceiling when they've played in the Champions League in recent seasons and would love to smash through that and go a little further.

As always, they have had to replenish their team, with Fabio Vieira sold to Arsenal and Vitinha going to Paris Saint-Germain during the summer. However, they always seem to achieve it and be competitive.

ONE TO WATCH: Evanilson - Smashed in 21 goals last season and was linked with a £55m move to Manchester United not so long ago. Mind you, who hasn't been linked with United this summer.

Has made a bright start to the present campaign and will certainly be a handful for anyone Porto come across in the Champions League.

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Proved to be disappointing although they were unfortunate to be paired with Liverpool, Atletico and AC Milan in the proverbial group of death.

They only managed to win one of their games and were conclusively second best to Liverpool and Atletico as they finished third.

Porto would always hope for a decent Europa League run as a consolation but after seeing off Lazio, they went out to Lyon in the last-16.

DANGER RATING: 2/5

Another victim of a staggering Real Madrid comeback last season, PSG also continue to wonder if they will ever stand on the top step of the European podium.

They led Real 2-0 on aggregate with just half-an-hour left of their last-16 tie but Karim Benzema's hat-trick sent them tumbling out prematurely once again.

That 2020 final loss to Bayern Munich, amid the Covid restart, remains the closest PSG have come to Champions League glory amid the billions lavished on and off the field by their Qatari owners.

Maybe this will finally be their time? They have hit five, five and seven goals in their opening three Ligue 1 games under new coach Christophe Galtier.

ONE TO WATCH: Kylian Mbappe - Having stunned Real by rejecting them to commit his future to PSG, Mbappe needs to get down to the business of winning that European trophy for them.

The France striker has never had any trouble finding the net in the Champions League and they'll need him to shine, even above Neymar, Lionel Messi and all their other stars.

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After finishing second behind Manchester City in last season's group stage, PSG were handed a nightmare last-16 draw against Real Madrid.

But they looked to be coasting through. Having won the first leg 1-0 thanks to Mbappe's stoppage time goal, they added to their advantage in the Bernabeu. Then Benzema happened.

DANGER RATING: 4/5

Best-case scenario: Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon, Maccabi Haifa

Worst-case scenario: Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Marseille

Chelsea face the same options as Liverpool and will be equally as desperate to avoid clashes with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or PSG.

Again, Eintracht Frankfurt - who the Blues beat on penalties in the 2019 Europa League semi-final - appears to be the easiest tie in Pot 1, but Thomas Tuchel's team should fancy their chances against Porto and Ajax too.

Unlike in the Premier League, loan players can play against their parent club in the Champions League so Chelsea will surely want to avoid Inter Milan in Pot 3 to rule out the risk of Romelu Lukaku scoring against them. A short trip to Lisbon or Leverkusen would suit the Blues fine.

The west London club won 4-0 home and away last time they faced an Israeli team in the group stages - Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2015 - so will fancy their chances if they get Maccabi Haifa in Pot 4. Conversely, they have lost on their previous two trips to Marseille so that is a tie to avoid.

Liverpool and Real Madrid both have four players included in UEFA's best XI from last season's Champions League, which has been released a day earlier than usual.

The two clubs met in the final in Paris in May, which was marred by ugly scenes outside the stadium as French police attacked fans unprovoked with the use of tear gas and pepper spray before the game.

On the pitch, Real Madrid lifted the trophy for a record 14th time as Vinicius Junior scored the only goal of the game just before the hour mark.

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Utterly dominant in Germany, Bayern will be determined to emulate their achievements in 2020 and win another Champions League title, the seventh in their illustrious history.

Their coach Julian Nagelsmann will also feel he has a point to prove after receiving harsh criticism when Bayern surprisingly lost to Villarreal in last season's quarter-finals.

They may have lost the uber-prolific Robert Lewandowski over the summer but their early matches in the Bundesliga - three wins from three, 15 scored - suggests they aren't any worse off when it comes to firepower.

Bayern signed Sadio Mane from Liverpool to replace Lewandowski, as well as splashing out on Matthijs de Ligt and Ryan Gravenberch to ensure the best just continue to get better.

ONE TO WATCH: Sadio Mane - The Senegal forward helped Liverpool lift the trophy in 2019 and has plenty of experience playing in the Champions League.

He'll add to Bayern's already speedy forward line and promises to take their counter-attacking game to another dimension.

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Ended in the disappointment of a quarter-final exit to Villarreal after they blitzed their way through the group with a perfect record - including home and away 3-0 wins over Barcelona - and a 7-1 thrashing of Red Bull Salzburg in the round of 16.

Nagelsmann was left in no doubt that he needs to do better than that this time around.

DANGER RATING: 4/5

Here's the match ball that will be used in the Champions League this season.

The Adidas balls features the familiar star design in a rainbow of colours.

The UEFA blurb about it says: 'Inspired by absence of light in space and how the stars shine out against the dark void, the refracted overlays communicate the mastering of all dimensions and the battle for the biggest stage of men's club football.

'As well as their new graphic designs, the balls feature the latest adidas performance technology, including an innovative PRISMA surface texture that offers the world’s elite players even more precision on the ball.

'The new outer texture coating – consistent across all adidas UEFA Champions League official match balls – offers secure grip and complete control, while the thermally bonded seamless construction guarantees ultimate performance.'

So there you go. It was given a guided tour of Istanbul this week as well...

Best-case scenario: Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon, Maccabi Haifa

Worst-case scenario: Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Marseille

With Liverpool in Pot 2, we could have a repeat of last season's Champions League final in the group stages if they are drawn against Real Madrid.

The Reds have failed to win any of their last seven games against Los Blancos, so will not be too keen on facing them again.

Eintracht Frankfurt are in Pot 1 after winning the Europa League last season so should not be underestimated, but they finished 11th in the Bundesliga and look a little out of place among some of Europe's heavyweights in their first season in this competition since 1960. That makes them the best option.

Jurgen Klopp's former charges Dortmund are one to avoid in Pot 3, along with an Inter Milan side who won at Anfield last season. A meeting with Sporting would favour Liverpool, while Bayer Leverkusen are the lowest-ranked team but would not be able to be drawn in the same group as Frankfurt.

In Pot 4, the Reds have only won once in six games against Celtic and a first meeting since 2003 would provide an electric atmosphere at both Anfield and Parkhead.

That said, Ange Postecoglou's men are perhaps a team to stay clear of along with Marseille, despite it being a short trip. Maccabi Haifa are the dream ticket again - or Viktoria Plzen.

Milan proved just too good for their city rivals Inter in last season's Serie A title race, winning the Scudetto by just two points.

We'd become accustomed to not seeing them in the Champions League after successes at the beginning of this century but they're now an established fixture once again.

Having said that, they finished bottom of a tricky group featuring Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and Porto last season, so it was hardly the most eye-catching return.

As top seeds this time - as opposed to pot four 12 months ago - they'll hope to avoid the group of death and do much better.

Milan have started this season with a 4-2 win over Udinese and a 1-1 draw against Atalanta.

ONE TO WATCH: Charles De Ketelaere - There was Premier League interest in the 21-year-old Belgian playmaker over the summer but he opted to sign for Milan in a deal worth around £28million.

He enjoyed Champions League football with Club Brugge over the last two seasons and his returns of 18 goals and 10 assists in Belgium last season hints at plenty of creative threat.

LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN

Was a major disappointing after seven years away from Champions League football. Milan lost four of their six group games and won only one as they finished bottom of the pile beneath Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and Porto.

DANGER RATING: 2/5

Best-case scenario: RB Leipzig, Sporting Lisbon, Maccabi Haifa

Worst-case scenario: Barcelona, Inter Milan, Marseille

As Premier League champions, Manchester City are in Pot 1 and therefore avoid many of Europe's biggest teams such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and PSG.

But with the other three English sides all in Pot 2, it narrows down the options that Pep Guardiola's team could face - they will definitely meet one of Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla or RB Leipzig.

Barcelona are surely the most daunting of those clubs following their summer spending spree, with the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde arriving at the Camp Nou. They also have a point to prove after being knocked out of the Champions League group stages last season.

In terms of UEFA coefficient, RB Leipzig are the lowest ranked side in the pot apart from Tottenham, so the German side - who finished third in City's group last season - seem to be the best team to get.

In Pot 3, Inter Milan - who have Romelu Lukaku back in attack - are one to avoid, while Borussia Dortmund have been weakened by Erling Haaland's departure but will still provide a stern test. Sporting Lisbon appear the most favourable draw as last season was the first time they had made it out of the group stages for 13 years.

City will fancy their chances against any team in Pot 4, although Marseille are perhaps the most challenging opponent. They finished second in Ligue 1 last season, possess Arkadiusz Milik and Dimitri Payet in attack and have spent over £60million this summer.

Israeli side Maccabi Haifa, appearing in the group stages for the first time since 2009, would be the best option but also a long away trip.

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City must wonder if they're destined never to win the Champions League.

After their defeat to Chelsea in the 2021 final, they saw their dreams snatched away in stoppage time against Real Madrid in one of the most astonishing collapses football has ever seen.

City were leading by two goals on aggregate entering stoppage time before Rodrygo netted twice in a matter of seconds before a Benzema penalty finished them off.

Guardiola will have to use those bad memories as fuel for his players as they embark on another European quest and with the summer addition of Erling Haaland they are the bookmakers' favourites.

They have achieved domestic dominance but City know they need to add European glory to be considered among the great teams.

ONE TO WATCH: Erling Haaland - Who else? One of the best young strikers in Europe and already bending English football to his will by scoring three goals in his first four outings for City.

The 22-year-old already has plenty of Champions League experience under his belt with Borussia Dortmund and may just be able to bludgeon City to the trophy they crave above all others.

LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN

Ended in the aforementioned heartbreak of that defeat to Real in the Bernabeu after they'd scraped past Atletico Madrid - the antithesis of the way they like to play football - in the quarter-finals.

Guardiola will vow that such a surrender must never happen again.

DANGER RATING: 5/5

By Stephen McGowan 

At this level of football loose lips have a bad habit of sinking ships. On a night when Rangers stunned the Phillips Stadium to earn their place in the group stage of the Champions League PSV central defender Andre Ramalho learned that the hard way.

Wheeled out pre-match press duties the Brazilian made a bold statement. The Dutch league runners-up, he claimed, belonged in the Champions League. ‘The club deserves it and we deserve it too,’ he added.

After 60 minutes Rangers took his words and rammed them down his throat. Taking possession of a short pass from keeper Walter Benitez in his own area the 30-year-old failed to sense Malik Tillman’s advancing presence.

The on-loan Bayern Munich attacker dispossessed Ramalho, took his time and spotted the unmarked figure of Antonio Colak six yards from goal. Twelve months ago the Croatian scored the two goals for Malmo which ended Rangers hopes of reaching the group stage. This time his strike secured a first appearance in the group stages of the Champions League for 12 years.

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The Germans enter the top seeds by virtue of winning last season's UEFA Europa League. They wouldn't be here otherwise because they could only achieve an 11th place finish in the Bundesliga having put all eggs in the European basket.

Their return to the top European competition is long overdue. They have become a Europa League force but haven't played in the European Cup/Champions League since way back in 1960, when they lost that famous final 7-3 to Real.

They've hardly made a brilliant start to their Bundesliga campaign, with a 6-1 hiding at the hands of Bayern Munich on opening night followed by back-to-back draws against Hertha Berlin and Cologne.

They were also defeated 2-0 by Real Madrid in the European Super Cup in Helsinki earlier this month and so a repeat of last season's European run seems pretty far-fetched.

ONE TO WATCH: Daichi Kamada - The Japan international offers goals from midfield and has four in four matches to open the season with.

He has featured prominently in Eintracht's last two Europa League runs and scored the winning goal in the first leg of their semi-final against West Ham in April.

LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN

There was delight at their penalty shoot-out win over Rangers in the Europa League final in Seville, having eliminated Real Betis, Barcelona and West Ham during s stirring run.

It was only the second European trophy won by Eintracht and the first since 1980, when they overcame Borussia Monchengladbach to win the UEFA Cup.

DANGER RATING: 1/5

The Covid pandemic forced a reshuffle of Champions League final venues and 2023 will see Istanbul take its turn.

The final will be staged at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium - capacity 75,145 - which was due to host when the virus struck in 2020.

It hosted the famous 2005 final which saw Liverpool come back from three goals down at half-time to defeat AC Milan on penalties.

And that also explains why today's draw is taking place in Istanbul.

Real once again enjoyed the sweet taste of European glory last season as they lifted the famous jug-eared trophy for the 14th time in their history, further extending their record.

Carlo Ancelotti's team proved themselves superior to three English opponents - Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool - during the business stages and they will remain the ones to knock off the pedestal this season.

As well as triumphing in Europe, Real also comfortably won the LaLiga title and looked head and shoulders above their domestic rivals for much of the campaign.

Real are impressive in their ruthlessness - just ask Casemiro, sold to Manchester United for a big fee this week with his successors Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga already in place - and they'll always evolve.

ONE TO WATCH: Karim Benzema - It felt after Benzema inspired Real to their latest Champions League triumph that the Frenchman finally gained the appreciation and affection he has long deserved.

The 34-year-old scored memorable hat-tricks against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, as well as contributing important goals against City both home and away.

In the end, he netted 15 times during the Champions League campaign - more than anybody else - as he won the competition for the fifth time.

The guy has 325 goals now for Real... and counting.

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Went rather well. If you're going to win this competition, you need to beat the best and Real certainly did that as they overcame PSG in the last-16, Chelsea in the last eight, City in the semi-finals and Liverpool in the final.

This they did in often breathtaking and odds-defying circumstances.

DANGER RATING: 5/5

As mentioned earlier, it's a much more compressed group stage schedule for the group stage this year because of the World Cup, which begins in Qatar on November 20, blowing a huge hole in the middle of the season.

It means all six matchdays have to be squeezed in to less than two months as you'll see below:

Matchday 1: 6/7 September
Matchday 2: 13/14 September
Matchday 3: 4/5 October
Matchday 4: 11/12 October
Matchday 5: 25/26 October
Matchday 6: 1/2 November

Changes will come to the Champions League in the years ahead but for now we have the usual 32 teams being drawn into eight groups of four.

The top two in each of those eight groups will advance into the last-16 with the third-placed side dropping into the UEFA Europa League and the fourth side eliminated.

They have all been split into four pots for the purposes of the draw based largely on whether they are national champions and also their UEFA coefficient.

Here are the four pots in full:

Pot 1
Real Madrid (ESP, Champions League holders)
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER, Europa League holders)
Manchester City (ENG)
AC Milan (ITA)
Bayern München (GER)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Porto (POR)
Ajax (NED)

Pot 2
Liverpool (ENG)
Chelsea (ENG)
Barcelona (ESP)
Juventus (ITA)
Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Sevilla (ESP)
Leipzig (GER)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)

Pot 3
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Salzburg (AUT)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Inter (ITA)
Napoli (ITA)
Benfica (POR)
Sporting CP (POR)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)

Pot 4
Rangers (SCO)
Dinamo (CRO)
Marseille (FRA)
Copenhagen (DEN)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Celtic (SCO)
Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
Maccabi Haifa (ISR)

Here we go again... the Champions League is back and today we will find out who's got who in the group stage of Europe's greatest club competition.

32 teams await their fate at the draw in Istanbul and this year it's going to be a straight sprint with the six group games all squeezed into under two months because of the World Cup.

They've all been divided up into seeded pots ahead of this evening's draw and that means we are guaranteed some titanic contests right from the outset.

Of course, we have a quartet of Premier League clubs - Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham - as well as both of the Old Firm teams, Celtic and Rangers.

They are joined by the cream of the European crop with everyone going all out to win the famous jug-eared trophy.

The draw ceremony itself will get underway in Turkey at about 5pm UK time but stay tuned as we'll have plenty of build-up in the coming hours.