Champions League 101

So, you're interested in following the Champions League on TSN but don't know where to start? Well you've come to right place. Whether you want to dive in with both feet or just dip your toe in the water, here's a primer to get you on the right track as you enjoy the tournament.

The Champions League is Europe's elite club competition that pits the best soccer teams from across the continent against each other in a tournament format.

Though powerhouse teams are involved, they are not necessarily all champions of their own leagues.

A country's representation in the tournament is determined by a UEFA coefficient ranking, calculated over a five-year basis. 

Nations that are ranked in the top three (for the 2015/16 tournament it is Spain, Germany and England), send four teams each to the tournament, with three automatically qualifying for the group stage. The next two ranked nations (Italy and Portugal this year) send three teams each, with two of them starting in the group portion of the tournament.  

In total, 22 teams will play their first games at the group stage of Champions League.

The other 56 participating teams that do not automatically start at that level compete in a series of home-and-home, two-leg playoff games that reduce their number to 10. Those teams are then placed in the main draw with the other 22 sides that splits them into eight four-team groups.

While their domestic schedules continue, teams will play each side in their group twice, once home and once away, with the top two teams from each foursome advancing to the Round of 16. The games take place on pre-determined Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the season.

The third-place teams from each group move on to the Europa League competition which, while at first glance might seem to be a secondary tournament, features many tough teams and guarantees the winner a spot in the Champions League qualifying rounds for the following campaign. The fourth-place teams are eliminated.

The 16 teams that advanced into the knockout stage are randomly drawn against each other, with group winners playing second-place teams in two-game, home-and-home aggregate goal series. Teams from the same group cannot meet at this stage.

The winners continue to advance and are drawn against each other in the same fashion until there are only two left standing.  Those teams then head to a pre-selected host site - this season the San Siro in Milan - and play a one-game final for the Champions League title.

It should also be noted that clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other in the group stage or Round of 16.

Now, a little history of the tournament.

Prior to 1992, the Champions League was known as the European Cup and was a knockout tournament that did not feature a group stage.  When the competition was rebranded, round robin play was added, after having been tried the year prior, and the field expanded.

Despite the name change, the history and records of the original event remain.

Real Madrid is the most successful team in the competition's history, winning 10 titles, including the first five European Cups contested.

AC Milan, with seven championships, defending champion Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool, with five each, round out the top five in Champions League/European Cup history.

Players that are eligible to appear for their clubs are also allowed to play in Champions League.  There is one notable exception to this rule, if a player appears for a team and is then transferred to another team they cannot play for the duration of the current season's tournament.

While many of the best players from around the world will be involved in this competition, two that deserve mention are Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.  The two players top the list of goal scorers in UEFA tournament history and should once again be battling for the top of the charts in this year's Champions League.  

In 2014-15, they were joint top in scoring, along with Barcelona forward Neymar, with 10 goals. The previous season it was Ronaldo's 17 goals that led the competition. The season before that he led all scorers with 12.

Messi took the goal-scoring crown in 2011/12 with 14 goals and led the season prior with 12 markers.

You have to go all the way back to 2006/07 to find the last season that one of the two didn't lead the tournament in scoring, when Kaka fired home 10 goals.

Life-long fan or first-time viewer, these are some of the best soccer players in the world, so keep it locked on TSN and enjoy the beautiful game.

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The 32 teams for Thursday morning's Champions League group stage draw are set.

Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen, BATE Borisov and Astana, the first ever Kazakh side to reach the group stage, qualified as the final five teams on Wednesday.

The draw is set for 11:45am et/8:45am on Thursday and will be streamed live on TSN.ca

The 32 teams have been divided into four pots from which eight groups will be selected. Because of the current political climate, FIFA ruled in July that Russian and Ukrainian teams will not be drawn into the same groups.

La Liga leads the way with five sides in the draw: Barca, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla.

Under the new format, the first pot is to contain last year's Champions League winner, as well as the champions of Europe's top seven leagues. Since Barca is both the Champions League holder, as well as the La Liga champion, PSV Eindhoven, the Dutch champions, become the eighth team in the first pot as winners of Europe's eighth-ranked league.

The remaining three pots are ranked by 2015 UEFA club coefficients.

The first group stage matches will be played on September 15 and 16.