Road to Istanbul

Holders Real Madrid and the rest of Europe's elite clubs will be able to start plotting their route to Champions League glory when the draw for this season's group stage is made in Istanbul tonight.

All going to plan, the journey will end back in the Turkish city on June 10 next year for the final at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, the same venue where Liverpool beat AC Milan on penalties in 2005.

Istanbul was supposed to host the final in 2020 and again in 2021, but on each occasion European football's governing body Uefa moved the game to Portugal due to pandemic-related restrictions.

Another late change was required last season, with Saint Petersburg being stripped of the final after Russia invaded Ukraine, and Paris instead stepping in to host Madrid's 1-0 victory over Liverpool.

The Spanish giants, who have now been crowned kings of Europe 14 times, also beat Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt in Helsinki to lift the Uefa Super Cup.

"The joy and satisfaction you get after such wins tends to stick around, making you feel like no one should ever take your place. And that's a pretty strong motivation to keep winning," Real boss Carlo Ancelotti said when asked about the chances of a title repeat.

For the draw, Real are in Pot One along with the champions of Europe's other leading domestic leagues: Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Ajax as well as Frankfurt.

Liverpool will be in Pot Two, with Chelsea - winners in 2021 - and Tottenham the other English representatives.

Meanwhile, Celtic will be in Pot Four as they return to the Champions League proper for the first time since 2017.

Russian clubs are banned because of the ongoing war, but Ukraine will be represented by Shakhtar Donetsk.

Dynamo Kyiv were hoping to join them but lost 5-0 on aggregate to Portuguese side Benfica in the playoffs.

With the World Cup to be played in November and December, Uefa have been forced to organize all six matchdays in the space of nine weeks starting on September 6.

The team going all the way to victory in the final will rake in around 90 million euros (HK$701.76 million). On top of that will be an added share from the television market pool.