2016/17 UEFA Champions League Draw: How to Watch and Full Guide

WHEN: Thursday August 25, 2016; 12:00 p.m. EST/6:00 p.m. CEST

TV: Fox Sports 1 in United States

STREAM: Fox Soccer 2Go; UEFA Website

After finishing second in the Bundesliga last season, Borussia Dortmund will make a return to the UEFA Champions League this year. Dortmund will join 31 other elite clubs across Europe in the competition.

But that’s what everyone already knows.

How does the draw work? Who will Dortmund face? What teams should Dortmund watch out?

The Champions League Draw, taking place on August 25 following the conclusion of Play-Off Round Qualifying, will finalize groups in which each of the contest’s 32 teams play.

The teams are separated into four pots. Pot 1 includes last year’s champion along with the seven champions from the highest ranked leagues in Europe.

2016 SEEDING POT 1:

• Real Madrid
• Barcelona
• Leicester City
• Bayern Munich
• Juventus
• Benfica
• Paris-Saint Germain
• CSKA Moscow

Pots 2, 3, & 4 are decided based on club coefficient, a value determined by the club’s record in European competition over the past five seasons. Dortmund is currently locked into Pot 2 and will avoid playing other teams in this seeding pot.

2016 SEEDING POT 2:

• Atletico Madrid
• BORUSSIA DORTMUND
• Arsenal
• Sevilla
• Napoli
• Leverkusen
• Porto
• Manchester City

The next two pots were largely decided by qualifying and will dictate the final 16 teams. These two pots are considered the weakest of the four, but do have some fairly talented clubs blended into them. Dortmund’s group will have a member of Pot 3 and 4 in it — teams that will define the difficulty of their group.

2016 SEEDING POT 3:

• FC Basel
• Dynamo Kyiv
• Tottenham Hotspur
• Olympique Lyon
• PSV Eindhoven
• Sporting Club Portugal
• Club Brugge
• Borussia Monchengladbach

2016 SEEDING POT 4:

• Dinamo Zagreb
• Monaco
• Besiktas
• Legia Warsaw
• Copenhagen
• Ludogorets Razgrad
• Celtic
• Rostov

So now with the 32 teams listed above, they enter the draw in those four pots. There is no real way to simulate the draw or do a mock-up for one, but for those who are curious, feel free to do your own simulator by clicking HERE.

For each team in Pot 1, two balls are drawn. One with the team itself, and a second with their group placement. Pots 2, 3, and 4 have some restrictions on placement, as teams from the same league cannot be drawn together.

As for which clubs Dortmund will get matched up with, that, as mentioned earlier, is pretty nebulous. There are countless possible group match-ups. So rather than list them all, we’ll take a look at the easiest and the toughest one for Dortmund.

EASIEST GROUP

• Leicester City
• BORUSSIA DORTMUND
• Club Brugge
• Ludogorets

Toughest GROUP

• FC Barcelona
• BORUSSIA DORTMUND
• Tottenham Hotspur
• AS Monaco

Hopefully this clears up some questions about the draw. If you have any other questions feel free to ask them in the comments below. You can also tell us what your preferred Champions League group would be and post your draw results from the simulator here in the comments.