The UEFA Champions League 2017- 2018 draw took place in Monaco on August 24. In this season, 32 teams have hoped to lift the Champions League trophy on May 26, 2018.
The draw ceremony was headed by UEFA Deputy General Secretary Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA President Award winner, the legend from AS Roma, Francesco Totti and season ambassador for Kiev, Ukrainian footballer, Andriy Shevchenko.
According to the rules, all 32 clubs were divided into 4 pots. The defending champion and all domestic champions of top-ranked associates automatically seeded into the first pot. Other remaining teams, based on their positions on UEFA club coefficient ranking were put into remaining pots.
For the first time, FK Qarabag and RB Leipzig both have qualified for the group stage and they were seeded to the 4th pot. On the other hand clubs from Russia and Ukraine were decided not to put in the same group by UEFA Executive Committee.
The first pot with the title owners and domestic champions were allocated to eight different groups and then the same procedure was followed for other remaining teams.
The final result of the draw came out with:
Group A: Benfica, Man Utd, Basel, CSKA Moscow
Group B: Bayern Munich, PSG, Anderlecht, Celtic
Group C: Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, Roma, Qarabag
Group D: Juventus, Barcelona, Olympiakos, Sporting
Group E: Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Liverpool, Maribor
Group F: Shakhtar, Man City, Napoli, Feyenoord
Group G: Monaco, Porto, Besiktas, RB Leipzig
Group H: Real Madrid, Dortmund, Tottenham, APOEL
However, apart from the draw ceremony, UEFA also have given football awards to the players on the same day based on their performances last session. The 39-year-old, Juventus hero, Gianluigi Buffon, grabbed the best Goalkeeper award, Luka Modrić, and Sergio Ramos; two Real Madrid jewels received the best midfielder and defender awards. The Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo made his way to be the best forward and UEFA Men's player of the year. On the other hand, the newcomer from FC Barcelona, the Dutch player Lieke Martens won the UEFA Women's player of the year.
