OFFICIAL: The draw for the 2020/21 UCL group stage will take place on October 1

OFFICIAL: The draw for the 2020/21 UCL group stage will take place on October 1

The dates for the draws for the group stages of this season’s Champions League and Europa League were announced on Wednesday by European football’s governing body, UEFA.

The group stage draw for the 2020/21 Champions League season will be held at UEFA headquarters in the Swiss city of Nyon on October 1 with the 2019/20 awards being held on the same day.

Meanwhile, the draw for the 2020/21 Europa League group stage will take place a day later with the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League player of the season set to be named on the same day.

Qualifying for the group stages of both tournaments is already underway.

The events were due to take place in Athens, Greece, but were moved due to constraints arising from existing COVID-19 health protocols.

“In spite of the globally acknowledged effective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Greek authorities, all parties agreed that the top priority must remain public health and that it currently would not be possible to organise an event of such a size with guests in Athens, as it would violate public health restrictions and constraints regarding indoor events,” UEFA said in a statement.

UEFA clarified that the events will take place behind closed doors, with no club representatives or media, but with awards winners.

German champions Bayern Munich won the Champions League for a sixth time while Spanish side Sevilla won the Europa League for a record-extending sixth time.