This is how the Champions League draw will be structured

The Champions League final will be held at the Atatürk Stadium, where the 32 clubs in Thursday's group stage draw in Turkey, where Liverpool and the other favourites will find out their route to the knockout rounds. 

The Champions League group stage will run from September to early November because of the World Cup in Qatar, forcing most of the big teams to play every three days, and that unusual schedule will postpone the final until June 10, 2023.

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Atatürk will bring back fond memories for Liverpool, who were crowned champions there in 2005 at the end of a legendary match. And less good for AC Milan, the Italy 2022 champions led 3-0 to the Reds at half-time in that memorable final, before being held to a 3-3 draw and losing on penalties.

It is hard not to see Real Madrid, 14-time European champions, as the favourites for this year's edition. As champions of their respective leagues, PSG, City, Bayern and AC Milan are in the first draw alongside Real Madrid.

Liverpool

In Pot 2 will be Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool, winners of the tournament in 2019 and last season's finalists at the Stade de France, where they lost to Real Madrid on goal difference. With Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, Colombian Luis Diaz and Uruguayan Darwin Nunez, their attacking line remains one of the most potent on the continent.

Among the contenders will also be Chelsea, Tottenham, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. The clubs in pot three and four will be hoping to avoid the favourites, although teams such as Eintracht Frankfurt and Porto (pot 1) or Sevilla and Leipzig (pot 2) are tougher opponents.

Pot one: AC Milan, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Real Madrid

Pot two: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig, Tottenham Hotspur.

Pot three: Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Internazionale, Napoli, Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting CP

Pot four: Celtic, Club Brugge, Copenhagen, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Haifa, Marseille, Rangers, Viktoria Plzen