Champions League: draw for the 2018-19 group stage on Thursday 30/08/2018 at 18:00 CET

The 2018-19 UEFA Champions League group stage draw is scheduled at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday, 30/08/2018 from 18:00 CET, according to UEFA on 24/08/2018.

The 26 teams given direct entry to the group stage under the new competition system will be joined by the six winners of the play-off ties played on 21/22 and 28/29 August.

Under the new format of the competition, 26 teams have directly qualified for the group stage, including the last winners of the Champions League (Real Madrid, LaLiga Santander) the Europa League winners (Atlético de Madrid, LaLiga Santander), and six winners of the play-offs (play-off return-legs on 28 and 29/08/2018).

"The teams will be split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 consists of the title holders, the UEFA Europa League winners and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations. Pots 2 to 4 are determined by the club coefficient rankings. No team can play a club from their own association, with the exact draw procedure to be confirmed before the ceremony," said UEFA on 24/08/2018.

The first matchday of the group stage will take place on…