Champions League draw: When is it and who could Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal face?

Barcelona beat Juventus to win the Champions League in Berlin last season

When is the group stage draw, which teams are in the hat, who could the English sides face, what are they key dates, which records are up for grabs and how much does each club stand to earn in this season’s competition?

We have the answers to all those questions, and more....

Europe's elite will learn their Champions League group fates when the draw is made in Monaco on Thursday afternoon.

Holders Barcelona will be looking to become the first team to retain the trophy since the competition expanded its format in 1992, and the first side ever to achieve that feat since AC Milan in 1990.

La Liga rivals Real Madrid can also make it a record-extending 11th European Cup win should they get their hands back on the silverware at the San Siro on May 28.

Ahead of the draw, which will be live on Sky Sports News HQ and covered on skysports.com and the Sky Sports apps, we answer the key questions.

When and where is the draw?

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino will be part of the team conducting the draw in Monaco

The draw for the Champions League group stage will take place at 4.45pm UK time on Thursday 27 August in Monaco.

Who is in the draw?

The Principality will host the Champions League draw

32 teams have qualified for the main draw and they are placed into eight groups of four.

For the first time Pot 1 will be made up of the holders and the champions of the top seven associations: Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, France and Russia after changes to the regulations.

The eighth Pot 1 spot has been given to PSV Eindhoven, champions of the eighth-placed nation, Holland.

Teams from the same league cannot be drawn in the same group, with the exact draw procedure to be confirmed before the ceremony.

Which pots are the Premier League clubs in?

The Champions League trophy

Premier League champions Chelsea will be in Pot 1.

Manchester United join Manchester City and Arsenal in Pot 2 in the Champions League group stage draw. UEFA have confirmed that Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Valencia and Porto will also be in Pot 2.

Who can Chelsea face?

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has already won the Champions League at FC Porto and Inter Milan

With Pot 2 containing all three English teams - Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United- Jose Mourinho's side will face one of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Valencia or Porto.

Who can Arsenal face?

Arsene Wenger will lead Arsenal in their 16th straight Champions League campaign

The Gunners will face one domestic champion from a list of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, Paris-Saint Germain, Zenit St Petersburg and PSV Eindhoven.

Who can Manchester City face?

Manuel Pellegrini: Eyeing a more successful campaign this season

City have the same possible opponents as Arsenal although will be required to improve on their low coefficient if they are to remain in Pot 2 next season. This will be City's fifth appearance in the competition and they will be aiming to progress beyond the last 16 for the first time.

Who can Manchester United face?

Louis van Gaal could face a reunion with Barcelona or Bayern Munich

United share Pot 2 with Arsenal, City, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid and it means head coach Louis van Gaal could face a reunion with Barcelona or Bayern Munich as early as next month.

When will the matches take place?

Group stage games are scheduled to take place every two or three weeks from September 15 to December 9.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW POTS 1-4

Balls will be drawn from the bowls on Thursday

Pot 1: Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit St. Petersburg and PSV Eindhoven.

Pot 2: Real Madrid, Atlético, Porto, Arsenal, Man Utd, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Man City

Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla, Lyon, Dynamo Kiev, Olympiakos, CSKA Moscow, Galatasaray, Roma

Pot 4: BATE, Borussia Monchengladbach, Wolfsburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Gent, Malmo, Astana

Newcomers

Belgium champions Gent will be making their first-ever appearance in the Champions League this season

Two teams will make a Champions League or European Cup debut. Gent won the Belgium title back in May for the first time in their history to earn direct entry into Thursday's draw.

They are joined as newcomers in this season's group phase by Astana after the Kazakhstani side managed to knock out APOEL in the play-offs on Wednesday night.

Malmo, who knocked out Celtic on Tuesday, are the lowest-ranked club in the competition - despite the Swedish champions making their second straight appearance in the group stage this season - with Gent just above them.

And although we will be seeing Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League for the very first time next month, the Bundesliga club did reach the final of the competition when in its old format 38 years ago.

All roads lead to Milan

San Siro will host this season's final on May 28

After the group stage conclusion on December 9, the top two in each section progress to the two-legged knockout rounds, which get under way on February 16.

The final takes place at San Siro on May 28 - the fourth time the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza has hosted Europe's showpiece club event, but the first since Bayern Munich beat Valencia on penalties in 2001.

Record-breakers

Both Mourinho and Guardiola will be hoping to get their hands on the Champions League for the third time come next May

A number of records could be either equalled or broken when Europe's premier club competition restarts in September.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola will be looking to draw level with both Liverpool's Bob Paisley (1977, 1978 and 1981) and Carlo Ancelotti (2003 and 2007 with AC Milan; 2014 with Real Madrid) with three titles to their names.

However, the Portuguese could become the first coach to win the Champions League with three different teams should he triumph with Chelsea at San Siro in May, after emerging victorious with both Porto (2004) and Inter Milan (2010).

Elsewhere, multiple World Player of the Year-winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo head into this season's group phase locked together on 77 goals at the top of the European Cup goalscoring charts.

Points mean prizes

The highest earner in this season's competition are set to earn around €80m

The 32 competing clubs will share more than 1.2bn euros (approx £875.9m) - an increase of 33 per cent over the next three seasons - in entrance payments, results bonuses and TV revenues.

Each side will get 12m euros (approx £8.76m) just for qualifying for the group stage, while on top of that they pocket a further 1.5m euros (approx £1.09m) for every win and €500,000 (approx £365,000) for a draw.

Meanwhile, prize money increases when the knockout rounds begin, with the highest earner set to pocket around 80m euros (approx £58.4m) this season, 20m euros (approx £14.6m) more than in the previous three years.

Watch the Champions League draw live on Sky Sports News HQ on Thursday afternoon or follow on skysports.com and via the Sky Sports apps.