What to expect in Thursday’s Champions League draw

The group stage matches will be played between September and December.

The draw for the group stage of the Champions League will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday evening.

Here the PA news agency explains how it will unfold.

When is the draw?

The Champions League draw is due to start at 5pm UK time (Mike Egerton/PA)

How will it work?

Manchester City and Sevilla, who played each other in the UEFA Super Cup earlier this month, are both in Pot 1 and cannot meet in the group stage (Adam Davy/PA)

Pot 1 will feature European champions Manchester City, Europa League winners Sevilla and six domestic champions. Pots two to four will be based on the UEFA club coefficient rankings.

As usual, teams from the same country will be kept apart until at least the quarter-final stage. Pairings and any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw.

What else do we need to know about the format?

The teams finishing third enter the Europa League knockout round play-offs, where they will face the runners-up from the Europa League group stages for a place in the last 16 of that competition.

What else should we expect on Thursday night?

Aitana Bonmati is one of three nominees for the UEFA Women's Player of the Year award — Aitana Bonmati is one of three nominees for the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year award (Isabel Infantes/PA)

What else should we look out for this season?

This season marks the final year of the group stage as we have come to know it. From next season the 32-team group stage will be replaced by a 36-team league phase, with each team playing eight matches on a seeded basis.

It will be worth keeping an eye as the season progresses on the country coefficients, which are based on the collective performance of a country’s clubs in the three UEFA men’s club competitions. One team each from the two best-performing countries will secure additional places in the league phase, under changes agreed at UEFA Congress in Vienna last year.