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shape Thursday when UEFA draws 32 elite teams into
groups in Monaco.
The most coveted prize in club football promises the world's
best players performing at arguably their highest level.
Barcelona and Lionel Messi start as favorites to become the
first team to retain the title since the old European Cup was
rebranded as the Champions League in 1992.
Real Madrid hopes Cristiano Ronaldo can help the club to a
record-extending 11th title, and his old club Manchester
United returns after a one-year absence.
Here are some things to know about the 2015-16
Champions League group-stage draw:
___
NEW SEEDS
Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid to kick it off on Sept. 15? Or
Barcelona vs. Man United?
It could happen because UEFA scrapped the seeding
system which meant the top eight teams ranked by past
Champions League performance avoided each other.
Top-seeded status now goes to the title holder and national
champions of top-ranked leagues.
That has dropped Madrid, Man United and Arsenal into Pot
2. Madrid cannot be in Barcelona's group because teams
from the same country are kept apart until the quarterfinals.
The new elite includes Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit St.
Petersburg and PSV Eindhoven, which would have been in
Pot 3 under the old system.
Seedings:
Pot 1: Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Benfica,
Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit St. Petersburg, PSV
Eindhoven.
Pot 2: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Porto, Arsenal,
Manchester United, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen,
Manchester City.
Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla, Lyon, Dynamo Kiev,
Olympiakos, CSKA Moscow, Galatasaray, Roma.
Pot 4: BATE Borisov, Borussia Moenchengladbach,
Wolfsburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Gent, Malmo,
Astana.
___
NEW BOYS
Two newcomers to the Champions League groups or
European Cup are in the draw.
Belgian champion Gent won its first national title in May to
earn a direct place.
Astana came through qualifying rounds to debut as the first
team from Kazakhstan in the group stage, and easily the
lowest-ranked of the 32 by UEFA.
___
PRIZE MONEY RAISE
The Champions League is not as lucrative as the English
Premier League, but is doing just fine.
Booming broadcast rights deals let UEFA increase prize
money by 33 percent for each of the next three seasons.
The 32 clubs will share more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.37
billion) in entry payments, results bonuses and shares of
television money.
Each gets a basic 12 million euros ($13.1 million), and can
earn 1.5 million euros ($1.71 million) for each win and
500,000 euros ($570,000) for draws. Prize money escalates
in the knockout rounds.
The biggest earner of UEFA prize money this season should
get around 80 million euros ($91.4 million), compared to 60
million euros ($68.5 million) during the previous three-year
commercial cycle.
___
RECORD CHASERS
Each goal scored by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will
fuel a particular duel.
Both have 77 Champions League goals, tied for the record
in the 60-year history of the competition.
The Barcelona and Real Madrid stars also compete during
Thursday's draw for the title of UEFA Best Player in Europe
for last season. Messi's Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez
completes the shortlist of candidates voted by journalists
from each of UEFA's 54 member nations.
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho and Bayern's Pep Guardiola
resume their pursuit of a third European title, trying to equal
the record of Bob Paisley (Liverpool, 1977, 1978, 1981) and
Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan 2003, 2007; Real Madrid 2014)
Mourinho would be the first coach to win with three different
clubs, after Porto (2004) and Inter Milan (2010).
___
RUSSIA vs. UKRAINE
For a second season, UEFA keeps teams from Russia and
Ukraine apart.
UEFA made the ruling in July 2014 to avoid fueling tension
between the countries during conflict in eastern Ukraine
between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Shakhtar Donetsk has played home games in Lviv while its
home city is a focus of fighting
UEFA made the ruling in July 2014 to avoid fueling tension
between the countries during conflict in eastern Ukraine
between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Shakhtar Donetsk has played home games in Lviv while its
home city is a focus of fighting.
___
MATCH-FIXING
Greek champion Olympiakos is in the draw despite its
president, Vangelis Marinakis, being implicated in a criminal
investigation of alleged match-fixing.
UEFA rules bar teams proven to have been involved in fixing
a match since 2007.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport this week
dismissed an appeal by Panathinaikos, after UEFA said it
had no conclusive evidence from Greece to deny
Olympiakos its place.
UEFA can disqualify teams midseason if fixing allegations
are proven.
___
FINAL DESTINATION
The six-round group stage program kicks off Sept 15 and
ends Dec. 9. The top two in each group advance to the two-
legged knockout rounds which start Feb. 16.
UEFA picked San Siro in Milan to host the May 28 final but
there is no home advantage to play for the famed big-eared
trophy.
Neither Milan club — AC or Inter, which have a combined 10
European Cup or Champions League titles — qualified for
the second straight season.
San Siro will stage its fourth final, and first since Bayern
beat Valencia in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in
2001.
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