The draw
for the group stage of the 2020-21 Champions League season will take place on
Thursday amid the looming threat of the coronavirus pandemic, less than six
weeks after Bayern Munich lifted their sixth title in Lisbon.

Bayern narrowly
edged past Paris Saint Germain, with Paris-born Kinglsey Coman scoring the only
goal of the night to condemn his former team at an empty Estadio da Luz on
August 23.

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The occasion
was a triumph for UEFA, European football’s governing body, as it managed to
conclude the marquee tournament despite the prolonged shutdown from the
outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, although the concluding rounds were very not
the same.

“A game
like this without supporters is not the football that we know,” Bayern coach Hansi
Flick was quoted as saying by AFP. “Perhaps they can be back again in the
future.”

Thursday’s draw
will also see the best men’s and women’s player from last season be crowned.
UEFA had initially planned to host the event in Athens, although were forced to
shift it back to its headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where it will be held
without guests.

Bayern and PSG
find themselves in the first pot of the seeds along with other domestic champions
like Liverpool, Real Madrid, Juventus, Porto, Zenith Saint-Petersburg and Europa
League winners Seville.

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There is potential
for a host of mouth-watering clashes as Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea,
Borussia Dortmund and both Manchester clubs are among the second pot. Inter Milan,
Atalanta, RB Leipzig and Marseille are among the lower seeds.

With the
continued threat of the pandemic, it becomes tough to imagine that the final
will go ahead as scheduled in Istanbul next May in a full stadium. UEFA
experimented with allowing fans back as nearly 15,500 were in attendance in
last week’s Super Cup between Bayern and Seville in Budapest.

“Health is
the number one priority but we want to bring hope. Fans and players are the
essential part of football,” UEFA president Alexander Ceferin said.

However,
with rules on large gatherings varying from country to country, UEFA must soon
come to a decision regarding the issue of crowds attending Champions League and
Europa League games.

UEFA is
currently maintaining its stance that games will be played behind closed doors “until
further notice”. Although it has adapted its rules, as in case of travel restrictions,
it will allow for matches to go on neutral territory.

Also Read: Javi Martinez wins ‘dream’ UEFA Super Cup for Bayern Munich in front of 15,000 fans

Matches
will also be allowed to go on even if a club suffers a COVID-19 outbreak, as
long as both teams have at least 13 fit players and a goalkeeper.

The group
stage starts on October 20 and all six rounds will packed into eight weeks.
However, in case of further delays, a January 28 deadline has been set for the completion
of the group stage.