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Champions League Draw 2012 Live Stream: Complete Viewing Guide for Monaco Draw

Tim DanielsJun 7, 2018

No club tournament in the world garners more attention than the UEFA Champions League. With qualifying completed, the next cycle will begin in earnest on Thursday as the final 32 teams will be drawn into groups.

For usual participants like Barcelona, Manchester United and fellow powerhouse squads, the draw is simply a formality. However, for first-time group stage teams, such as Malaga, Montpellier and Nordsjaelland, it's an exciting event as the clubs see where they land.

Here's a look at all the key information for Thursday's draw followed by a glance at each pot. It's sure to be an intriguing night for some of the world's best teams.

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Where: Grimaldi Forum in Monaco

When: Thursday, Aug. 30 at 11:30 a.m. ET

Watch: Fox Soccer Channel

Live Stream: UEFA.com

Pot 1

Chelsea
Barcelona
Manchester United
Bayern Munich
Real Madrid
Arsenal
Porto
A.C. Milan

Defending champion Chelsea, which won its group last season en route to its first Champions League trophy, leads the most potent group of teams in the draw. The first pot is comprised of clubs everyone is expecting to see in the final rounds of the tournament.

Spanish rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid both made the semifinals last season before being eliminated. Don't count out an El Clasico final next May since Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will likely carry their teams deep in the event once again.

Robin van Persie's new team (Manchester United), his old team (Arsenal), Bayern Munich, Porto and Milan round out the star-studded group.

Pot 2

Valencia
Benfica
Shakhtar Donetsk
Zenit St. Petersburg
Schalke
Manchester City
Braga
Dynamo Kiev

The team that immediately stands out from the second pot is current Premier League title holder Manchester City. The Citizens will make whichever group they end up in extremely difficult to advance from for teams from the bottom two pots.

Russian champion Zenit St. Petersburg and the "other" Spanish team, Valencia, are among the other dangerous clubs in the pot. Benfica, Shakhtar Donetsk, Schalke, Braga and Dynamo Kiev make up the rest of Pot 2.

Although it's not as deep as the first pot, there will still be high expectations for these teams. It will be a disappointment if they don't advance from the group stage.

Pot 3

Olympiakos
Ajax
Anderlecht
Juventus
Spartak Moscow
Paris Saint-Germain
Lille
Galatasaray

Pot 3 does the best job of illustrating exactly how much talent is in the Champions League. There are several teams not only capable of making out of their group, but potentially making some noise once the knockout rounds begin.

The most notable names are Italian champion Juventus and big-spending Paris Saint-Germain. PSG made multiple high-profile transfer additions, including Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to bolster its already talented roster.

Olympiacos, Ajax, Anderlecht, Spartak Moscow, Lille and Galatasaray are the other teams hoping to spoil the UCL part for the top-seeded clubs in the groups.

Pot 4

Celtic
Borussia Dortmund
BATE Borisov
Dinamo Zagreb
Cluj
Malaga
Montpellier
Nordsjaelland

Even though most of the teams in the fourth pot would qualify as long shots to advance, it isn't totally devoid of talent. For example, German champions Borussia Dortmund will probably make its group the toughest in the tournament.

A team like Celtic, which won the Scottish Premier League, has a high level of chemistry and a goal scorer in Gary Hooper who can cause problems. All three group stage newcomers will be motivated to perform as well.

BATE Borisov, Dinamo Zagreb and Cluj are the pot's other squads. While these teams do face an uphill battle, they wouldn't have reached this stage without strong play.

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