2019/2020 UCL draws: Recap of how it went down, big winners and the draw in full

The draws for the 28th edition of the UEFA Champions League were held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and was attended by most notable figures in the world of football.

With past winners of the trophy and legends of the game like Petr Cech and Wesley Sneijder handling the draws, the world waited with bated breath to know the fate of their favourite clubs as the race for the biggest prize on offer in club football begins.

In case you missed the landmark event, not to worry, we have you covered. In this piece, we shall be recapping everything that went down at the Grimaldi Forum.

The Champions League Pots

Wesley Sneijder during the draws

Before the draws, UEFA announced that they would be following their established grouping pattern by classifying the teams in four different pots of eight teams each based on the strength of their coefficient ranking.

The coefficients are determined by a number of factors, including results aggregated over the last five seasons in European competitions, as well as the strength of the national leagues. The total points are then totalled, and clubs are classified hierarchically, with the pots then filled up by the clubs based on their coefficients.

The only exception to this classification was pot 1, as it was comprised of the domestic winners of the top six leagues (LaLiga, Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Russian Premier League), with the Champions League and Europa League winners completing the eight.

Hence, Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich, PSG, Zenit St. Petersburg, Liverpool and Chelsea were automatically placed into pot 1, while the remaining 24 teams were arranged on the basis explained above.

Apart from this eight, another 16 clubs had been guaranteed of their spot in this seasons group stage, owing to the strength of their league, but these 26 teams were joined by another six who were the final clubs left after a daunting qualification process that started way back in July.

The Champions League Pots in full:

Pot 1: Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich, PSG, Zenit St Petersburg, Liverpool, Chelsea

Pot 2: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham, Ajax, Benfica

Pot 3: Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Red Bull Salzburg, Olympiacos, Club Brugge, Valencia, Inter Milan, Dinamo Zagreb

Pot 4: Lokomotiv Moscow, Genk, Galatasaray, RB Leipzig, Slavia Prague, Red Star Belgrade, Atalanta, Lille

The winners on the night

Van Dijk was the big winner on the night

Apart from the draws, awards were also handed out, as UEFA rewarded players for their performances in the competition last season.

Earlier, a list of nominees had been released in all four departments namely: Best Goalkeeper, Best Defender, Best Midfielder, Best Forward, as well as the Best Player award.

A panel of judges including select journalists from all 54 member nations of UEFA and all 80 coaches that managed in last season's Europa League and Champions League campaigns were asked to vote for their top three players.

Each player received five votes for every first placed finish, three for second and one point for a third placed finish.

The nominees in full

Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker (Liverpool, Brazil), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, France), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona, Germany)

Best Defender: Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands), Trent-Alexander Arnold (Liverpool, England), Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus, Netherlands)

Best Midfielder: Jordan Henderson (Liverpool, England), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona, Netherlands), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham, Denmark)

Best Forward: Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Senegal), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Portugal), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina)

Best Player: Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Portugal)

The women were also not left out, as a three-woman shortlist for best female player was also released.

Best Women's Player: Ada Hegerberg (Lyon, Norway), Amandine Henry (Lyon, France), Lucy Bronze (Lyon, England)

The Winners

Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker

Best Defender: Virgil Van Dijk

Best Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong

Best Forward: Lionel Messi

Best Men's Player: Virgil Van Dijk

Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze

There was also a special award, the UEFA Presidential Award handed out to former France international and Manchester United legend Eric Cantona, with the eccentric 53-year-old joining the likes of Francesco Totti and David Beckham in winning the special category award.

The group stage draws in full

The draws served up some interesting fixtures

Group A: PSG, Real Madrid, Club Brugge, Galatasaray

Group B: Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Olympiacos, Red Star Belgrade

Group C: Manchester City, Shaktar Donestk, Dinamo Zagreb, Atalanta

Group D Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lokomotiv Moscow

Group E: Liverpool, Napoli, Red Bull Salzburg, Genk

Group F: Barcelona, Borrussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Slavia Prague

Group G: Zenit St Petersburg, Benfica, Lyon, RB Leipzig

Group H: Chelsea, Valencia, Ajax, Lille

One team was drawn from each of the four pots, with two clubs from the same country not facing one another.

There were some rematches from last season, with Manchester City taking on Shakhtar Donetsk for the third season running and a repeat of last season's second round fixture, while Liverpool and Napoli were grouped together once again, Barcelona face tackles with Inter Milan once again and Cristiano Ronaldo faces familiar opponents Atletico Madrid.

Only two clubs can qualify, with the top two advancing to the round-of-16, where the eight clubs who finished first would be paired with the other eight who finished in second place.

All 32 clubs would battle it out for a spot in the knockout rounds, as the race to the final at the Atatutk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul begins, with matchday 1 slated for September 17 and 18.