The UEFA Championship League 2022/23 group stage is now ready to take shape when the draw is held on Thursday, August 25, Newspremises reports.
Spanish Champions, Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League last season after defeating Liverpool 1-0 in the final. The two team could potentially be drawn against one another in the group stage given they will be placed in different pots.
Following the completion of the qualifying rounds that took place over the summer, the new Champions League season will officially kicks off with the group stage draw which will see 26 automatic entrants joined by the six teams that emerged from qualifying.
Prior to the draw, the 32 clubs are allocated into four pots based on different UEFA rankings as explained below. They will be drawn into eight groups each comprised of four teams.
What time is Champions League group stage draw
The 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage draw will take place on August 25 at 18:00 local time in Istanbul, Turkey.
The final three spots in the group stage will be decided just 24 hours prior to the draw as the playoffs wrap up.
Champions League teams and pots for group stage draw:
Pot 1
Real Madrid (ESP, Champions League holders)
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER, Europa League holders)
Manchester City (ENG)
AC Milan (ITA)
Bayern München (GER)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Porto (POR)
Ajax (NED)
Pot 2
Liverpool (ENG)
Chelsea (ENG)
Barcelona (ESP)
Juventus (ITA)
Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Sevilla (ESP)
Leipzig (GER)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Pot 3
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Salzburg (AUT)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Inter (ITA)
Napoli (ITA)
Benfica (POR)
Sporting CP (POR)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Pot 4
Rangers (SCO)
Dinamo (CRO)
Marseille (FRA)
Copenhagen (DEN)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Celtic (SCO)
Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
Maccabi Haifa (ISR)
Which clubs are paired in the Champions League draw?
To ensure that paired clubs from the same country play on separate days, the eight groups will be distinguished by colour: Groups A to D will be red and Groups E to H will be blue. When a paired club is drawn, for example, in one of the red groups (A, B, C or D), the other paired club – once it has been drawn – will automatically be assigned to one of the four blue groups (E, F, G or H). The pairings are as follows:
A Real Madrid & Barcelona
B Frankfurt & Leipzig
C Man City & Liverpool
D AC Milan & Napoli
E Bayern & Dortmund
F Paris & Marseille
G Porto & Benfica
H Chelsea & Tottenham
I Juventus & Inter
J Atlético de Madrid & Sevilla
K Rangers & Celtic
When are the Champions League group matches?
Matchday 1: 6/7 September
Matchday 2: 13/14 September
Matchday 3: 4/5 October
Matchday 4: 11/12 October
Matchday 5: 25/26 October
Matchday 6: 1/2 November
Round of 16 draw: 7 November