Uefa Group Stage Draw Live Stream

Hello and welcome to this live blog for the 2021/22 Champions League group stage draw, which gets underway in Istanbul at 18:00 CEST. There are five Spanish teams involved, with Atletico Madrid and Villarreal in Pot 1, and Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla in Pot 2. So, follow the draw here in this live blog to find out who their group stage opponents will be.

Champions League - 2021/22 group stage draw

After the Champions League playoff ties wrapped up on Wednesday night, with Shakhtar Donetsk, Red Bull Salzburg and Sheriff Tiraspol joining Benfica, Young Boys and Malmo in the group stage draw, our excitement can begin to build ahead of Matchday 1 getting underway on September 14/15.

Champions League group stage draw 2021/22 LIVE

This is the start of our live blog for the the 2021/22 Champions League group stage draw, with all of our updates coming below. Remember, the entries nearest the top are the most recent ones.

19:15 CEST: The 2021/22 Champions League group stage draw is complete!

The Pot 4 sides have been split across the eight groups, so the 2021/22 Champions League group stage draw is now finalised. You can see the full groups below, while we've have a lot more analysis coming up throughout the evening on MARCA In English. So, stay tuned for that!

Group A: Manchester City, PSG, RB Leipzig, Club Brugge
Group B: Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Porto, AC Milan
Group C: Sporting CP, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax, Besiktas
Group D: Inter, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sheriff Tiraspol
Group E: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Benfica, Dynamo Kyiv
Group F: Villarreal, Manchester United, Atalanta, Young Boys
Group G: Lille, Sevilla, RB Salzburg, Wolfsburg
Group H: Chelsea, Juventus, Zenit, Malmo

19:10 CEST: The forwards of the year are Haaland and Hermoso

The top forwards of the last year of UEFA competition are Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund and Jennifer Hermoso of Barcelona. They've both sent in video messages to say thanks.

19:05 CEST: The Pot 3 teams learn their fate

We've done 75 percent of the draw now, with the Pot 3 teams allocated to their groups. We're starting to see which might be the groups of death, with Group A and E looking particularly tough. Real Madrid, meanwhile, have been drawn with two sides they already faced at this stage in 2020/21.

Group A: Manchester City, PSG, RB Leipzig
Group B: Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Porto
Group C: Sporting CP, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax
Group D: Inter, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk
Group E: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Benfica
Group F: Villarreal, Manchester United, Atalanta
Group G: Lille, Sevilla, RB Salzburg
Group H: Chelsea, Juventus, Zenit

18:55 CEST: The midfielders get the awards in between Pots 2 and 3

The draw is really heating up, but we have another pause for the awards for the best midfielders of the last year. They are N'Golo Kante of Chelsea and Alexia Putellas of Barcelona.

18:50 CEST: Pot 2 is drawn and we have some HUGE matchups!

The draw has properly started now, as Pot 1 and Pot 2 have both been drawn. We have some huge matchups in prospect, such as Manchester City and PSG being in the same group or Barcelona having to deal with Bayern Munich. Here is the full draw so far.

Group A: Manchester City, PSG
Group B: Atletico Madrid, Liverpool
Group C: Sporting CP, Borussia Dortmund
Group D: Inter, Real Madrid
Group E: Bayern Munich, Barcelona
Group F: Villarreal, Manchester United
Group G: Lille, Sevilla
Group H: Chelsea, Juventus

18:45 CEST: Ruben Dias and Irene Paredes are the defenders of the year

The next award is for the best defenders of the past year, with the men's award going to Manchester City's Ruben Dias and the women's prize to Irene Paredes of Barcelona, but who previously playing for PSG.

18:40 CEST: Pot 1 has been drawn, so we still know nothing

The Pot 1 teams have all been draw to their groups. But, with no other teams drawn yet, this means we still don't know any actual matchups. We just know the letters of the groups that the first eight clubs are in.

Group A: Manchester City
Group B: Atletico Madrid
Group C: Sporting CP
Group D: Inter
Group E: Bayern Munich
Group F: Villarreal
Group G: Lille
Group H: Chelsea

18:35 CEST: Marchetti is out, so it's almost draw time

You know it's almost time for the actual Champions League draw when Giorgio Marchetti appears. The UEFA director is explaining the procedure, along with an instructional video, and then we'll actually start to find out who'll face who.

18:30 CEST: Mendy and Panos are the top goalkeeper

The awards for the best goalkeepers of last season's men's and women's Champions League have gone to two of the winners, to Chelsea's Edouard Mendy and Barcelona's Sandra Panos.

18:20 CEST: Ivanovic and Essien are introduced

We're getting closer to the draw as Branislav Ivanovic and Michael Essien are introduced to the audience. They'll both be helping to conduct the draw, picking the balls from the pots.

18:10 CEST: The first award is for those who helped save Eriksen

The UEFA's president's award has one to the players and medical staff who helped save Christian Eriksen's life at Euro 2020, during Denmark's game against Finland. The evening starts with some emotional moments, as UEFA look back on that frightening moment.

18:00 CEST: The UEFA ceremony begins

Here we go then, sort of. Pedro Pinto and Laura Wontorra are our hosts and we start by looking back on last year's Champions League. We all want to look ahead to 2021/22, which will come soon enough.

17:50 CEST: Ten minutes to go... although not really

It's 10 minutes until the official start of this UEFA event, scheduled for 18:00 CEST. But, as we all know, these draws never actually properly get going until well after the official start time. There will be ceremonial chatter, some prizegiving and then the draw itself. But, we'll make sure to keep you entertained and informed right here on this Champions League group stage draw live blog.

17:45 CEST: Istanbul is hosting the Champions League draw

We're not in Monaco or Switzerland or any of the usual Champions League draw host sites. For this year's Champions League group stage draw, the location is Istanbul. It has been due to host the final in each of the past two seasons, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced changes of venue. Finally, Istanbul has a UEFA event, although this isn't exactly what Turkish fans were hoping for.

17:30 CEST: A reminder from UEFA

The format of the Champions League group stage means that no club from the same country/association can be in the same group, so you will not see Real Madrid and Barcelona drawn together in Group A, for example.

17:20 CEST: Winner for best player to be announced

As well as the Champions League draw, we will also see who is awarded the UEFA Men's Player of the Year and UEFA Women's Player of the Year. The contenders in the men's category are Jorginho (Chelsea/Italy), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea/France) and Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/Belgium), while in the women's Jenni Hermoso (Barcelona/Spain), Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/Spain) and Lieke Martens (Barcelona/Netherlands).

17:10 CEST: Mbappe drama before Champions League draw

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who is also the president of the European Club Association (ECA), was not in the mood to talk to MARCA's reporters when asked about Kylian Mbappe's possible move to Real Madrid. See what he had to say HERE.

17:00 CEST: How the pots look

You would typically expect the big hitters of European football to be in Pot 1, which is the case with Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Manchester City to name just three, but all eight of the teams in Pot 2 will cause problems for any of the teams in the competition. In Pot 4, you will see seven-time Champions League winners AC Milan.