Milan, Juventus, Inter and Napoli will all be involved in today’s Champions League draw in Istanbul, finding out who they’ll face in the group stages this season.
UEFA’s Champions League draw will take place at 17.00 UK time in Istanbul, where the final will be played on June 10 next year. British readers can follow the draw live on BT Sport and Italian readers can follow the action on Sky Sport 24, as well as on the UEFA website.
The four Italian teams have been spread across three of the four pots, with Milan joining elite European sides like Bayern Munich and Manchester City in Pot 1, Juventus in Pot 2 alongside top teams including Liverpool and Barcelona, and Inter and Napoli together in Pot 3 with opponents like Borussia Dortmund and Benfica.
Looking at the pot distribution, Milan seem likely to face either Liverpool or Atletico Madrid again in their group. Juventus could run into Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain or Manchester City, issues that face Inter and Napoli as well, who could also be drawn alongside Liverpool, Chelsea and Barcelona.
Due to the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, the entirety of the group stages will be played between September 6 and November 2.
The group stage schedule:
- Game 1 – September 6 and 7
- Game 2 – September 13 and 14
- Game 3 – October 4 and 5
- Game 4 – October 11 and 12
- Game 5 – October 25 and 26
- Game 6 – November 1 and 2
Example group compositions for Italian teams:
Eintracht Frankfurt, Juventus, Sporting CP, Maccabi Haifa
Milan, Atletico Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Copenhagen
Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter, Rangers
Ajax, Sevilla, Napoli, Dinamo Zagreb
“elite European sides like Manchester City”
Ahahahaha..
@Ravanelli.
They’re bottlers for sure, but still far more elite than any Italian club nowadays. Could be a nightmare draw for some of these Italian sides, especially the 3 below Milan.
It’s gonna be hard to qualify for Inter and Napoli but you have to face big teams at one point and beat them so let’s go, Inzaghi showed against Real and Liverpool he won’t shy away and we can win.
As much as I love Inter, we will not do well i. UCL until such time that we have a coach that ditches 3-5-2 … it is not the way to excel in Europe … regardless I like Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 as opposed to the boring and dull of Conte’s.
Come on Inter
If other fans are pessimistic, I’m number 1 for that. 😛
I want third place and then Roma – Inter final in EL. 😉
Another Spanish team in the final? Liverpool again? All Italian sides fail again?
The reason Inzaghi does better in competitions like the CL is that he’s not afraid to throw out all of his cards unlike Conte or Spalleti. Inter now have a more balanced team that can choose to defend or attack in all fronts. Football is about entertainment so hopefully Inter gets a decent team to go against like last season with Liverpool and Real Madrid who were both finalists and at some points in their respective matches Inter seemed to be on the same level while playing in the 180 mins.