The Champions League promotion 2021/22 is underway, as clubs from all over Europe are bidding to succeed Chelsea on top of the continental mountain.
Thomas Tuchel’s side were the surprising winners in the 2020/21 competition and reached crowded Manchester City in the final after a fantastic run through the knockout stages saw them throw Atletico Madrid, Porto and Real Madrid.
This season’s edition will see many of the usual suspects again bid to be top dogs and marks the first time the competition has been played in its entirety since twelve renegade clubs tried to break away from Europe’s traditional pyramid to form an exclusive and extremely lucrative, Super League.
Kai Havertz fired Chelsea in honor of 2020/21 / Jose Coelho – Pool / Getty Images
These plans ended up in the end and still left the UEFA Champions League safe for its place as the most prestigious club competition in Europe.
Here you can find out everything you need to know about the 2021/22 edition, including which pot each team will be in, when the entire draw will be made and each match date for the group stage.
Champions League qualifiers started in June / Vasile Mihai-Antonio / Getty Images
The opening round of this season’s Champions League took place on June 22 and June 25, where two-legged deals had been drawn two weeks earlier.
The first qualifying round takes place in early July, with the first place bands played either July 6 or July 7, and the return matches a week later. The second qualifying round follows the same format – the first stage game is on July 20 and July 21 and the second rounds on July 27 and 28 – and so do the third and final qualifying round.
These games are scheduled for August 3 and August 4, with the other legs competing on August 10. The last stage is then the playoffs, which are again two-legged deals played over 17 and 18 August and 24 and 25 August.
The draw for the Champions League 2021/22 takes place one day after the playoffs have ended, on Thursday 26 August.
The 32 teams in the pot are then divided into eight groups of four, of which the two best after six matches advance to the round of 16. The draw for the knockout rounds takes place on 13 December.
Three of European football’s biggest clubs will be in pot two / Visionhaus / Getty Images
As already mentioned, the entire draw of the Champions League consists of 32 teams. 26 have already been decided, with the remaining six teams to consist of sides coming through the tough qualifying and playoffs.
Here is the pot sown that we know at this stage, which can raise an eyebrow or two with a glance …
Pot 1: Chelsea, Villarreal, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Inter, Lille OSC, Sporting CP
Pot 2: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, PSG, Liverpool, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund
Pot 3: FC Porto, Ajax, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Zenit St. Petersburg, TBD *, TBD *, TBD *
Pot 4: AC Milan, VfL Wolfsburg, TBD *, TBD *, TBD *, TBD *, TBD *, TBD *
* Besiktas, Dynamo Kiev and Club Brugge have qualified for the Champions League, but it is not yet known if they will be in pot three or pot four.
As usual, the group game in the Champions League takes place in mid-September and ends in the first week of December.
Gazprom Arena hosts 2022 Champions League final / DIMITAR DILKOFF / Getty Images
This season’s Champions League final will be held at the Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia, on May 28, 2022.
The final was originally scheduled to take place there in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic forced UEFA to change its plans and move the event to Lisbon. It was then decided that the 2022 final would switch to Russia, with Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena now hosting the 2023 exhibition.
