United and Bayern join top seeds

The UEFA Champions League third qualifying round over, 16 qualifiers have now taken their place alongside the 16 sides already in the draw for the first group stage at 16.00CET in Monaco today.

Top seeds
Among the clubs to win through to the tournament proper this week are four previous European champions, FC Bayern München, Manchester United FC, Internazionale FC and FC Barcelona, who are all ranked as top seeds due to their club coefficient.

Draw explanation
The 32 teams in the draw have been allocated to four pots in accordance with the seeding principles, based on the UEFA list of club coefficients. Pot 1 will comprise reigning champions Real Madrid CF along with the top seven clubs in the club coefficient rankings. Pot 2 will comprise the next eight clubs in the rankings, and so on for Pots 3 and 4. 

Computer draw
Teams from Pot 1 will be provisionally placed in the first position within their groups, teams from Pot 2 will provisionally take the second position in their groups, and so on. Once the draw has been completed, a computer draw will determine the final position of the teams within their group as per the draw procedure. These positions and the group will then determine the order of the home and away matches.

Six matchdays
The first group stage will span six matchdays, starting on 17/18 September. The remaining dates are: 24/25 September, 1/2 October, 22/23 October, 29/30 October, 12/13 November.

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