The event for the UEFA Champions League group stage draw was held today in Istanbul,Turkey and also awards for the men’s category for goalkeeper of the year, Defender of the year, Midfielder of the year, Forward of the year and UEFA men’s player of the year.
The Champions league is the highest competition for club football amongst Europian member footballing nations.
The Draw was arranged with all 32 teams seeded in four pots and the picks were carried out by the duo of former Chelsea and black stars of Ghana player, Michael Essein and also former Chelsea Defender and ex Serbian international, Branislav Ivanonic.
The various awards for players in the categories as mentioned above is as follows;
UEFA men’s Player of the year – Jorginho (Chelsea)
UEFA Coach of the year – Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea)
UEFA Goalkeeper of the year – Edouard Mendy (Chelsea)
UEFA Defender of the year – Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
UEFA Midfielder of the year – N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
UEFA Forward of the year – Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
Chelsea players dorminated the awards category after winning the Champions league last time against fellow English side Manchester City and also, with their player, Jorginho going on to win the EUROS with the Italian National team. This earned the highest award in the men’s category and been reckoned as the first player to ever win the award after winning both Champions league and Euros.
The group stage draws in full is as follows;
Group A
1. Manchester City
2. Paris Saint-Germain
3. RB Leipzig
4. Club Brugge
Group B
1. Atletico Madrid
2. Liverpool
3. FC Porto
4. AC Milan
Group C
1. Sporting Lisbon
2. Borussia Dortmund
3. Ajax
4. Besiktas
Group D
1. Inter Milan
2. Real Madrid
3. Shakhtar Donetsk
4. Sheriff Tiraspol
Group E
1. Bayern Munich
2. Barcelona
3. Benfica
4. Dynamo Kyiv
Group F
1. Villarreal
2. Manchester United
3. Atalanta
4. Young Boys
Group G
1. Lille
2. Sevilla
3. Red Bull Salzburg
4. Wolfsburg
Group H
1. Chelsea
2. Juventus
3. Zenit St. Petersburg
4. Malmo
The matches for the group stage begins on September 14 and 15. The final will take place in St Petersburg on May 28.
