Re: UEFA Champions League 2006-2007
Draw procedure announced
UEFA has confirmed the draw procedure for the group stage of the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League, which will take place from 18.00CET at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
Coefficient ranking
The 32 teams will be placed in four pots in accordance with their UEFA coefficient ranking. Pot 1 will comprise last season's winners FC Barcelona and the top seven ranked clubs, Pot 2 the next eight and so on for Pots 3 and 4. The sides are therefore divided into eight groups of four. Each team will play three matches on Tuesday and three on Wednesday.
Pairings
If two sides from the same association qualify, they will be paired to split their matches between Tuesday and Wednesday, so one club will always play at home on one day and the other will play away on the other day. In the case of associations with three representatives, only two teams will be paired in terms of their fixtures; in the case of associations with four representatives, two pairings will be made. These pairings will be based on the TV audience and take account of the provisions of the competition regulations concerning stadiums.
Colour codings
To ensure that sides from the same country play on separate days, the eight groups will be distinguished by colour: Groups A-D will be red and Groups E-H blue. When a paired club is drawn, for example, into one of the red groups, the other paired club – once it has been drawn – will automatically be assigned to one of the four blue groups. Teams from Pot 1 will be provisionally placed in the first position within their groups, teams from Pot 2 will provisionally take the second spot in their sections, and so on.
Final position
Russian clubs FC Spartak Moskva and PFC CSKA Moskva will be assigned positions one or three in their groups to allow them to play away on Matchday 6, which falls on 5/6 December. Once the draw procedure has been completed, a computer draw will determine the final position of the sides within their group. These positions within the group will then determine the order of the home and away matches.
2006/07 UEFA Champions League draw
Pot 1
FC Barcelona
AC Milan
Real Madrid CF
FC Internazionale Milano
Liverpool FC
Arsenal FC
Manchester United FC
Valencia CF
Pot 2
Olympique Lyonnais
FC Porto
PSV Eindhoven
FC Bayern München
Chelsea FC
AS Roma
Celtic FC
LOSC Lille Métropole
Pot 3
Sporting Clube de Portugal
SL Benfica
FC Girondins de Bordeaux
FC Steaua Bucuresti
Werder Bremen
Olympiacos CFP
PFC CSKA Moskva
AEK Athens FC
Pot 4
RSC Anderlecht
FC Dynamo Kyiv
PFC Levski Sofia
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
Galatasaray SK
Hamburger SV
FC Spartak Moskva
FC København
