Champions League Draw 2015: Date, Seeds, TV and Live Stream Info for Group Stage

The draw for the 2015-16 Champions League group stage will take place on Thursday, August 27.

Once again Europe's top 32 teams, including giants such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, will return to do battle in UEFA's showpiece tournament.

The clubs will be split into eight groups of four, drawn from four seeded pots.

Pot 1 now comprises the holders and champions of UEFA's top seven associations—Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, France and Russia, while Barcelona's league and European double last season sees the Netherlands take the eighth place.

Thanks to Sevilla's qualification via their Europa League win, Spain are the first nation to field five teams in the group stage.

Here is all the viewing information you need to catch the all-important draw:

Date: Thursday, August 27

Time: 4:45 p.m. BST/11:45 a.m. ET

Live Stream: Official UEFA website

TV Info: BT Sport Europe (UK)

Seeding Pot 1	Seeding Pot 2	Seeding Pot 3	Seeding Pot 4
Barcelona	Real Madrid	Shakhtar Donetsk	BATE Borisov
Chelsea	Atletico Madrid	Sevilla	Borussia Monchengladbach
Bayern Munich	Porto	Lyon	Wolfsburg
Juventus	Arsenal	Dynamo Kiev	Dinamo Zagreb
Benfica	Manchester United	Olympiacos	Maccabi Tel Aviv
Paris Saint-Germain	Valencia	CSKA Moscow	Gent
Zenit St Petersburg	Manchester City	Galatasaray	Malmo
PSV Eindhoven	Bayer Leverkusen	Roma	Astana

Barcelona Aiming to Defend Title

No team has ever won back-to-back Champions League titles, so the onus will be on Barcelona this year to be first.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

Goal.com's Aditya Bajaj wrote about the difficulties teams face in defending a Champions League title, noting that on top of the tournament being exceptionally difficult to navigate due to the quality of the opposition, a lengthy campaign in Europe will see players make upwards of 50 appearances a season including domestic league and cup matches.

That could be a particular problem this season for Barcelona, who have parted with or loaned out the likes of Pedro, Adama Traore and Alen Halilovic but due to their transfer ban will not be able to field any new faces until January.

To make matters worse, Dani Alves and Sergio Busquets were both forced off early in the Blaugrana's La Liga opener against Athletic Bilbao. B/R's own Rik Sharma noted the difficulties caused by their ban:

That said, though the draw has not yet been made, it seems inconceivable that Barca could fail to qualify for the knockout stage.

With the fresh-legged Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal available for the knockout games, Luis Enrique's side will receive a timely mid-season boost that could see them make a strong push for another Champions League title.

There's a long way to go just yet, though, and each team's chances will become much clearer following the draw.

English Teams Looking to Step Up

Jon Super/Associated Press

After fielding a team in the Champions League final in seven of the eight showpieces between 2005 and 2012, the Premier League is seriously struggling to compete in Europe, and last season was no different.

Liverpool failed to escape a group including Basel and Ludogorets, Manchester City scraped through the group stage and were defeated by Barcelona, and Arsenal and Chelsea were dismissed far too easily by Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 due to poor performances at home.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was disappointed with the performances of the English sides:

Per his column in the Telegraph, he expanded: 

"

Watching Premier League games I’m still enthused, still entertained, but at times I despair when I judge them alongside the Champions League matches I see midweek. Most elite European teams are better organized and physically better—which is a scary one—and are certainly better technically.

We talk about intensity and aggression and toughness in English football. Stop saying English football is ‘tough.’ Jordi Alba, the Barcelona left-back, is as aggressive as hell.

"

Neville also added that English clubs' struggle to recruit "elite" players is a significant concern affecting their ability to compete in Europe.

England's representatives have made some strides in that area this summer—the likes of Pedro, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Petr Cech and Nicolas Otamendi could arguably fall into that category—but so far there have been few marquee names arriving in London or Manchester.

The top talents of Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba, Neymar and Thomas Muller all appear to be staying at their respective clubs, and without their calibre, it's difficult to see how this season will be different for the Premier League sides.

Key, of course, will be the draw, but with Chelsea the only top-seeded team following the regulation change, United, Arsenal and Manchester City could all struggle if they're unlucky with their groups.

In the meantime, some more recruitment is needed.