Champions League Draw 2018: Time, Live-Stream Schedule for Group-Stage Reveal

The draw for the group stage of the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League takes place on Thursday in Monaco.

Holders Real Madrid have won the title for the last three seasons and are in Pot 1 alongside La Liga rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are also among the highest-ranked teams.

Beaten finalists Liverpool could face a tough draw. The Reds are in Pot 3, but they could move up a tier if Benfica lose to PAOK in the third qualifying round. The Portuguese team drew the first leg 1-1 and play the second leg in Greece on Wednesday.

Date: Thursday, August 30

Time: 6 p.m. BST/1 p.m. ET.

TV Info: BT Sport 2, Fox Sports 1.

Live Stream: BT Sport App, Fox Soccer Match Pass, UEFA.com

Here's a look at how the pots are shaping up ahead of Thursday's draw.

Pot 1

Real Madrid 

Atletico Madrid 

Barcelona

Bayern Munich

Manchester City

Juventus

Paris Saint-Germain

Lokomotiv Moscow

Pot 2

Borussia Dortmund

FC Porto 

Manchester United

Shakhtar Donetsk 

Napoli 

Tottenham Hotspur 

AS Roma

Pot 3

Schalke 04

Lyon 

Monaco 

Ajax

CSKA Moscow

Pot 4

Club Brugge 

Galatasaray 

Young Boys

Inter Milan

Hoffenheim 

AEK Athens

To be decided

Liverpool

Valencia 

Viktoria Plzen

Three play-off winners

The schedule for the group games has already been released, per UEFA. Here's a look at when the matches will be played.

Matchday 1: September 18 and 19.

Matchday 2: October 2 and 3.

Matchday 3: October 23 and 24.

Matchday 4: November 6 and November 7.

Matchday 5: November 27 and 28

Matchday 6: December 11 and 12

Real Madrid To Relinquish Their Title?

Real Madrid underlined their European dominance by lifting the European Cup for the third consecutive season in May after a 3-1 win over Liverpool.

Opta highlighted their achievement:

However, much has changed at the club since their historic victory. Manager Zinedine Zidane has been replaced by Julen Lopetegui, talisman Cristiano Ronaldo has left for Juventus and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has arrived from Chelsea.

Madrid will still be a feared opponent and have started the league season with wins over Getafe and Girona.

Gareth Bale has played a starring role to ensure Ronaldo has not been too badly missed. However, there's no doubt some of the fear factor has gone with the Portuguese superstar no longer in their ranks.

City rivals Atletico may fancy their chances of taking the title off Los Blancos. Diego Simeone's side highlighted their quality by beating Madrid 4-2 in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup.

MB Media/Getty Images

Atletico won the UEFA Europa League last season and have strengthened significantly this summer. Thomas Lemar, Rodri, Nikola Kalinic and Gelson Martins have all arrived. But perhaps even more importantly, star man Antoine Griezmann rejected the advances of Barcelona to sign a new deal.

There is added incentive for Los Rojiblancos this season, as the final will be held at their own Wanda Metropolitano stadium.

Football writer Andrew Gaffney thinks the Champions League winners will come from Spain:

Atletico will face stiff competition from a host of other clubs. Barcelona will be chasing a first European triumph since 2015 and cannot be discounted with Lionel Messi still the driving force in the team.

PSG have a star-studded squad and a formidable attack consisting of Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Neymar. Real Madrid knocked PSG out of the tournament last season, but they will be hoping new manager Thomas Tuchel can take them further.

Liverpool will also hope to go one better after coming agonisingly close last season. The Reds are thrilling to watch with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino in attack, but Jurgen Klopp's side have also sought to strengthen by bringing in Naby Keita, Xherdan Shaqiri, Fabinho and goalkeeper Alisson.

Manchester City were dumped out of the tournament at the quarter-final stage by the Reds, but Pep Guardiola's side will be tough to beat after winning the Premier League by 19 points last season.

There's also the small matter of Juventus and Ronaldo. The 33-year-old has lifted the trophy five times in his career and has been brought to Turin in the hope he can deliver a first European Cup since 1996.