The lineup for the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League group stage has been completed with the final five qualifiers earning their places on Wednesday night.
New faces
This week's ten play-off winners join the 22 automatic entrants in Thursday's group-stage draw, which will take place from 17.45CET at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and can be followed live by video and audio on uefa.com. VfL Wolfsburg, FC Rubin Kazan, AZ Alkmaar, R. Standard de Liège, AFC Unirea Urziceni, Debreceni VSC, APOEL FC and FC Zürich will all be making their debuts in a competition which sees 18 nations represented in the group stage this year.
Top seeds
The 32 sides are split into four seeding pots, with one from each to be drawn into the eight groups, though no team can meet another from the same association. Seeds are based on UEFA's coefficient system with holders FC Barcelona the top seeds and seven other leading clubs in Pot 1. The competition's most successful side, Real Madrid CF, are in the second pot along with Italian teams FC Internazionale Milano and Juventus while, after extended absences, Club Atlético de Madrid and ACF Fiorentina will compete in back-to-back editions having returned to Europe's élite last season. They are placed in Pot 3 with German champions VfL Wolfsburg and Belgian counterparts Standard in the final pot.
Contenders
Matchday 1 takes place on 15/16 September, with fixtures continuing on 29/30 September, 20/21 October, 3/4 November, 24/25 November and 8/9 December. The top two sides from each section will progress to the first knockout round draw on 18 December, which will be held at 12.00CET in Nyon, while those finishing third will enter the UEFA Europa League Round of 32.
| Pot 1 | Club | Coefficent | | 1 | FC Barcelona (ESP, holders) | 121.853 | | 2 | Chelsea FC (ENG) | 118.899 | | 3 | Liverpool FC (ENG) | 118.899 | | 4 | Manchester United FC (ENG) | 111.899 | | 5 | AC Milan (ITA) | 110.996 | | 6 | Arsenal FC (ENG) | 106.899 | | 7 | Sevilla FC (ESP) | 100.853 | | 8 | FC Bayern München (GER) | 98.339 |
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| Pot 2 | Club | Coefficent | | 9 | Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) | 91.033 | | 10 | FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) | 87.582 | | 11 | Real Madrid CF (ESP) | 78.853 | | 12 | PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS) | 71.525 | | 13 | FC Porto (POR) | 68.292 | | 14 | AZ Alkmaar (NED) | 64.826 | | 15 | Juventus (ITA) | 63.582 | | 16 | Rangers FC (SCO) | 56.575 |
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| Pot 3 | Club | Coefficent | | 17 | Olympiacos FC (GRE) | 52.633 | | 18 | Olympique de Marseille (FRA) | 48.033 | | 19 | FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) | 46.370 | | 20 | VfB Stuttgart (GER) | 45.339 | | 21 | ACF Fiorentina (ITA) | 42.582 | | 22 | Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) | 41.853 | | 23 | FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA) | 40.033 | | 24 | Beşiktaş JK (TUR) | 32.445 |
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| Pot 4 | Club | Coefficent | | 25 | VfL Wolfsburg (GER) | 21.339 | | 26 | R. Standard de Liège (BEL) | 21.065 | | 27 | Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR) | 17.050 | | 28 | FC Zürich (SUI) | 14.050 | | 29 | FC Rubin Kazan (RUS) | 9.525 | | 30 | AFC Unirea Urziceni (ROU) | 8.781 | | 31 | APOEL FC (CYP) | 4.016 | | 32 | Debreceni VSC (HUN) | 1.633 |
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