Champions League 2019/20 Guide: British Clubs
7 min read
Andy Schooler’s quick guide highlights the entry stages for each of the British clubs in the Champions League 2019-20, who is in which pot for the draw proper, and any permutations still to be decided in the qualifying rounds.
Manchester City – 1st Premier League
Like all of the English sides, the Premier League champions will start the 2019/20 Champions League in the group stage on September 17 or 18. They will find out their opponents when the draw is made in Monaco on August 29.
As champions of England, City are already guaranteed to be in the top pot of seeds for that draw. The top six nations in UEFA’s association club coefficient ranking have their champions seeded, so Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Zenit St Petersburg will join City in pot one.
Also in the top pot will be this season’s Champions League winners Liverpool and the 2018/19 Europa League winners Chelsea.
Liverpool – 2nd Premier League
As explained above, Liverpool will be in pot one for the group-stage draw for winning the Champions League final against Spurs. That means the Reds cannot be drawn with Barcelona, Bayern Munich or PSG – three sides they’ve played in last season’s competition.
Liverpool cannot face another English side in the group stage as teams from the same country cannot be placed in the same pool.
One other thing to note – the 2020 final is to be played in the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, the venue of Liverpool’s famous comeback in the 2005 final against AC Milan which they won on penalties.
Name on the trophy and all that.
Chelsea – 3rd Premier League
Chelsea will be in pot one after winning their Europa League final showdown with London rivals Arsenal in Baku last May.
Other European giants who are already guaranteed to be in pot two include 13-time winners Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Tottenham – 4th Premier League
Champions League Final 2019 runners up Tottenham will be in pot two.
There had been a chance Spurs would slip into pot three but results in other European leagues over the past couple of weeks have ensured that won’t now happen. Roma’s failure to finish in the top four in Serie A was the clincher.
Celtic – 1st Scottish Premier League
The Scottish champions entered the first qualifying round and needed to win four two-legged ties in order to qualify for the group stage.
Their hopes of playing in the Champions League group stages were ended by Romanian champions CFR Cluj who progress to the final play-off round.
Celtic now have the consolation of dropping into the Europa League play-off round and can reach the group stage proper if they overcome a two-legged tie against either Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova or Swedish side AIK.
Champions League draw dates:
| Jun-11 | Preliminary round |
| Jun-18 | 1st & 2nd qualifying round |
| Jul-22 | 3rd qualifying round |
| Aug-05 | Play-off round |
| Aug-29 | Group stage |
| Dec-16 | Last 16 |
| Mar-20 | Quarter-finals & semi-finals |
Champions League round dates:
| Jun-25 | Preliminary round semi-finals |
| Jun-28 | Preliminary round final |
| July 9-10 | 1st qualifying round, 1st legs |
| July 16-17 | 1st qualifying round, 2nd legs |
| July 23-24 | 2nd qualifying round, 1st legs |
| July 30-31 | 2nd qualifying round, 2nd legs |
| August 6-7 | 3rd qualifying round, 1st legs |
| Aug-13 | 3rd qualifying round, 2nd legs |
| August 20-21 | Play-off round, 1st legs |
| August 27-28 | Play-off round, 2nd legs |
| September 17-18 | Group stage, matchday 1 |
| October 1-2 | Group stage, matchday 2 |
| October 22-23 | Group stage, matchday 3 |
| November 5-6 | Group stage, matchday 4 |
| November 26-27 | Group stage, matchday 5 |
| December 10-11 | Group stage, matchday 6 |
| February 18-19 & 25-26 | Last 16, 1st legs |
| March 10-11 & 17-18 | Last 16, 2nd legs |
| April 7-8 | Quarter-final, 1st legs |
| April 14-15 | Quarter-final, 2nd legs |
| April 28-29 | Semi-final, 1st legs |
| May 5-6 | Semi-final, 2nd legs |
| May-30 | Final |
