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LoginClubs await Champions League draw
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Holders Manchester United, along with Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Celtic will be involved.
The 32 teams in the pot will be split into eight groups of four teams, with the first set of matches due to be played on 16/17 September.
The four English sides will be kept apart after being made top seeds. <!-- E SF -->
Celtic could face any one of the English sides after being drawn in the third pot of clubs.
Liverpool and Arsenal both came through qualifying, along with the likes of Barcelona and Juventus to make it to the lucrative stages of Europe's premier competition.
European heavyweights like Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich come into the competition at the group stages.
But Scottish side Rangers failed to make it through the qualifying stages, while 2007 winners AC Milan missed out after finishing fifth in Serie A last season.
The eight group winners plus the runners-up go through to the knockout stages of the competition, while the teams finishing third go into the Uefa Cup.
Rome's Stadio Olimpico will stage the Champions League final on 27 May 2009.
The stadium was the venue for Liverpool's European Cup triumphs in 1977 and 1984 and also played host to Juventus' victory in 1996.
AS Roma and Lazio, who play their home games at the Stadio Olimpico, are involved in the competition.
The winner of the Uefa Club Footballer of the Year will also be announced on Thursday.
England's 'big four' clubs provide 17 of the 20 players on the shortlist for the award.
Schalke keeper Manuel Neuer and Barcelona pair Lionel Messi and Carlos Puyol are the only non-Premier League players to be nominated.
Teams in the draw for the Champions League group stages:
Pot one
MANCHESTER UNITED
CHELSEA
LIVERPOOL
Barcelona
ARSENAL
Lyon
Inter Milan
Real MadridPot two
Bayern Munich
PSV Eindhoven
Villarreal
AS Roma
FC Porto
Werder Bremen
Sporting Lisbon
JuventusPot three
Marseille
Zenit St Petersburg
Steaua Bucharest
Panathinaikos
Bordeaux
CELTIC
Basel
FenerbahcePot four
Shakhtar Donetsk
Fiorentina
Atletico Madrid
Dynamo Kiev
CFR Cluj
Aalborg
Anorthosis Famagusta
Bate BorisovGames will be played on the following dates:
16/17 September
30 September/1 October
21/22 October
4/5 November
25/26 November
9/10 December<!-- E BO -->
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