© EuroFootball.com
On Thursday in Monaco at 19:00 Lithuanian time, the draw for the UEFA Champions League group stage will take place.
32 clubs from 18 countries will be divided into eight groups of 4 teams each. Interestingly, only 12 of the teams that played in this stage last year remain this year.
Debuting in the Champions League this season are London's Tottenham, Zilina, Braga, Tel Aviv's Hapoel, Bursaspor, and Twente. For Manchester United, this will be a record-breaking 16th season out of 19 possible.
Teams were divided into four baskets based on coefficient before the draw. In one group, two teams from the same country cannot compete against each other.
The season will start on September 14-15 for the teams, and the group stage will end on December 7-8.
Baskets:
Basket 1: Milan Inter (Italy), Barcelona (Spain), Manchester United (England), Chelsea (England), Arsenal (England), Bayern Munich (Germany), Milan (Italy), Lyon (France).
Basket 2: Werder Bremen (Germany), Real Madrid (Spain), Roma (Italy), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Benfica (Portugal), Valencia (Spain), Marseille (France), Panathinaikos (Greece).
Basket 3: Tottenham (England), Glasgow Rangers (Scotland), Ajax (Netherlands), Schalke (Germany), Basel (Switzerland), Braga (Portugal), Kobenhavn (Denmark), Spartak Moscow (Russia).
Basket 4: Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel), Twente (Netherlands), Rubin Kazan (Russia), Auxerre (France), CFR Cluj (Romania), Partizan (Serbia), Zilina (Slovakia), Bursaspor (Turkey).
