With the European summer almost over, those with soccer on their minds are beginning to think ahead to another season of top-level football action in the two marquee European competitions, the UEFA Champions League 2011/12 and the UEFA Europa League 2011/12.
This item, produced for The Global Herald explains when, and how, the Group Stages for each competition shall be drawn.
Table of Contents
The Playoff Stages – Draw Date 5 August 2011
There is a playoff to decide which teams from the Qualifying stages are to line-up in the Group Stages of both UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa Lague. The Playoff Draw shall be made on Friday August 5th 2011.
UEFA Champions League 2011/12 – Group Stage Draw Date Thursday 25 August 2011
Perhaps the biggest competition in World Club Football, the UEFA Champions League 2011/12 Group Stages shall be drawn on the afternoon of Thursday 25th August 2011, in Monaco. The draw shall be made at 17:45 Central European Time (CET).
UEFA Europa League 2011/12 – Group Stage Draw Date, Friday 26 August 2011
The draw for the Group Stage of the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League takes place in Monaco on Friday 26th August 2011, at 13:00 CET, ahead of the UEFA Super Cup Final between last season’s Champions League winners, FC Barcelona, and the newly crowned UEFA Europa Champions, FC Porto, which takes place in Stade Louis II stadium at 20:45 CET.
How the Draws Work
UEFA Champions League Group Stage 2011/12
For the UEFA Champions League, 32 teams shall be divided into 8 groups of 4 teams for the group stage. Each team shall play each other team home and away, with the top two sides advancing to the Last 16 Knockout Phase. Third placed teams shall drop into the UEFA Europa League Round of 32. Teams from the same federation cannot be drawn in the same group. Teams are seeded, with defending Champions, Spanish giants, FC Barcelona seeded number one, followed by Manchester United and Chelsea FC of the Barclays Premier League.
UEFA Europa League Group Stage 2011/12
In the UEFA Europa League 2011/12 Group Stage, 48 teams (38 winners of the playoff round, and 10 losing sides from the Champions League Playoff round) will be divided into 12 groups of 4 teams. The top two sides from each group will be joined by the 8 teams who were placed third in the UEFA Champions League group stage to form the Round of 32 Knockout phase.
The Global Herald will be providing a full analysis of the teams drawn for the final knockout rounds, on August 5th 2011, and shall be reporting back from the group stage draws on 25-26 august 2011.
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