One thing is certain and that is the note with Bayer 04 Leverkusen written on it will be in pot three – together with seven other clubs. There are four pots in total containing all the 32 participants. Pot 1 contains the holders, the Europa League winners plus the champions from the six leagues with the highest coefficients. Pots 2 to 4 are determined according to the club coefficient rankings (based on the clubs' European results from the past five years).
Pot 1
Liverpool (holders, England), Chelsea (Europa League winners, England), Barcelona (Spain), Manchester City (England), Juventus (Italy), Bayern Munich (Germany), Paris St. Germain (France), Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia).
Pot 2
Real Madrid (Spain), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Napoli (Italy), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Tottenham Hotspur (England), Benfica (Portugal), Ajax (Netherlands).
Pot 3
Olympique Lyon (France), Bayer 04, FC Salzburg (Austria), Valencia (Spain), Inter Milan (Italy), Olympiakos (Greece), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Club Brugge (Belgium).
Pot 4
Galatasaray (Turkey), RB Leipzig (Germany), Atalanta (Italy), OSC Lille (France), KRC Genk (Belgium), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Lokomotive Moscow (Russia), Slavia Prague (Czech Republic).
There are eight groups of four comprising one team from each of the four pots. The teams in Pot 1 automatically head the groups. No team can play another club from the same Association. Beyond that, the UEFA executive committee has decided there will be no games between clubs from Russia and Ukraine during the group stages.
If an association has several representatives then the relevant clubs are allocated in pairs for the fixtures to be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For example, if a club in such a pair is drawn in Groups A, B, C or D then the other club from this pair will be automatically allocated to Group E, F, G or H as soon as they are drawn. The draw also applies to the UEFA Youth League that involves the Bayer 04 U19s.
The draw will be streamed live by UEFA and broadcast from 17.30 CET on Sky Sport News HD.
The group stage begins on 17th/18th September and ends on 10/11 December. A few days later, on 16 December, the draw will be held for the Round of 16 to be played between 18 February and 18 March 2020. The final on 30 May 2020 will be played at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
Matchday 1: 17/18 September
Matchday 2: 1/2 October
Matchday 3: 22/23 October
Matchday 4: 5/6 November
Matchday 5: 26/27 November
Matchday 6: 10/11 December
The starting date for the sale of tickets for individual matches is not yet set. Anyone who definitely wants to be at the Werkself home games in the group stage can already secure a package for all three fixtures at the BayArena. And at a special price giving 10% discount on the cost of individual match tickets. The package will be available after the draw as well. Season card holders with the BundesligaPLUS option will have the matches automatically loaded to the season cards at a discount rate of 20%. Further ticket information to follow.
We are taking the Day of German Unity and the anniversary as an opportunity to tell a story that befits the subject - that of Falko Götz. The long-serving player, who currently works in scouting at Bayer 04, spoke to bayer04.de about his youth in the GDR, his escape during an away game in Belgrade and how he identifies with Bayer 04.
Show more
With seven points from five games, Union Berlin have made a decent start to the season. Particularly in the wins against VfB Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt, the Irons, who are otherwise known for their strong defence, impressively demonstrated they also have a lot to offer in attack. They will be looking to prove this once again at the BayArena on Saturday, 4 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST, match on Sky and highlights on DAZN). The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
Derby time in the Rhineland! After a successful September, the Bayer 04 Women are away to FC Köln on Sunday, 4 October. In the Bundesliga match kicking off at 18:30 CEST at the Franz Kremer Stadium (live on MagentaSport and DAZN), coach Roberto Pätzold is counting on the return of a number of players who have been absent through injury.
Show more
Bayer 04 have extended the contract with Argentinian World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios with his current contract due to run out in the summer of 2028. The midfielder, currently unavailable due to injury, has signed a new contract with the Bundesliga club that runs to 30 June 2030.
Show more
Bayer 04 will have to manage without defender Axel Tape for the time being.
Show more
