All eyes will soon turn to the UEFA Champions League as Europe's top competition gets set for the group stage.
The 32 clubs involved in the group stage will include many of the European heavyweights, including Barcelona, Manchester City, Liverpool, and defending champions Real Madrid.
Among the field of 32 will be the six clubs that emerged from the five rounds of summer qualifying that culminated in the decisive playoff round. The winners of the six aggregate-goal playoff series earned a place in the lucrative group stage, which comes with guaranteed prize money for every participating club.
The Sporting News brings you everything you need to know about the 2022/23 Champions League draw, including date, time, place, the teams involved, and how they will be drawn.
MORE: Champions League qualifier results and matchups so far
When is the Champions League group stage draw?
The Champions League group stage will take place at 12 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. BST on Thursday August 25, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey, host of the 2023 Champions League final.
The draw will see 32 teams split into eight groups of four. During the draw, UEFA will select one team from each of four pots to make up each group.
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How to watch the 2022/23 Champions League
| Country | Date | Time | TV channel | Streaming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Fri, Aug. 26 | 02:00 AEST | — | Stan Sport |
| Canada | Thurs, Aug. 25 | 12:00 ET | — | DAZN |
| Hong Kong | Fri, Aug. 26 | 00:00 HKT | — | UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube |
| India | Thurs, Aug. 25 | 21:30 IST | — | UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube |
| Malaysia | Fri, Aug. 26 | 00:00 MYT | — | UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube |
| New Zealand | Fri, Aug. 26 | 04:00 NZST | — | UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube |
| Singapore | Fri, Aug. 26 | 00:00 SST | — | UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube |
| UK | Thurs, Aug. 25 | 17:00 BST | BT Sport 1 | BT Sport site/app |
| USA | Thurs, Aug. 25 | 12:00 ET | TUDN | fuboTV, Vix+, Paramount+, CBS Sports HQ |
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Teams in the Champions League group stage draw
Pot 1 will consist of the defending Champions League (Real Madrid) and Europa League (Eintracht Frankfurt) title winners, plus the reigning league champions of each of the top six nations as ranked by UEFA country coefficient list.
Since Real Madrid are the Spanish league champions (a top-six nation) as well as defending UEFA Champions League holders, the Pot 1 spot reserved for the Spanish champions is assigned to the next best nation in the coefficient list. In this case, the Netherlands and its reigning Eredivisie champion Ajax were elevated to Pot 1.
As for Pots 2, 3, and 4, those are based on the UEFA club coefficient list, which is a mathematical formula to evaluate a specific club's performance in domestic and continental competitions over the past five years. Each club's UEFA club coefficient ranking is included for Pots 2-4 since club seeding in those pots is based on the coefficient ranking. Olympique Marseille could yet be bumped into Pot 4 depending on the results of the six playoff matchups.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid (Champions League) | 2-Liverpool | 19-Borussia Dortmund | 33-Rangers |
| Eintracht Frankfurt (Europa League) | 5-Chelsea | 21-RB Salzburg | 34-Dinamo Zagreb |
| Manchester City (1st, England) | 6-Barcelona | 22-Shakhtar Donetsk | 38-Olympique Marseille |
| AC Milan (1st, Italy) | 8-Juventus | 23-Inter Milan | 41-FC Copenhagen |
| Bayern Munich (1st, Germany) | 9-Atletico Madrid | 25-Napoli | 44-Club Brugge |
| PSG (1st, France) | 12-Sevilla | 27-Benfica | 51-Celtic |
| Porto (1st, Portugal) | 13-RB Leipzig | 28-Sporting CP | 55-Viktoria Plzen |
| Ajax (1st, Netherlands) | 14-Tottenham | 30-Bayer Leverkusen | 169-Maccabi Haifa |
One club is selected from each pot to make up the eight groups of four teams.
Clubs from the same country cannot be drawn in the same group and must be moved to the next available group.
In addition, UEFA pairs together certain clubs from the same nation to ensure they don't play at the same time during the group stage (to optimise viewership audience). As such, when any of the teams below are drawn into groups A-D, their paired team will automatically be assigned to one of groups E-H, and vice-versa:
- Real Madrid and Barcelona
- Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig
- Manchester City and Liverpool
- AC Milan and Napoli
- Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund
- Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille
- FC Porto and Benfica
- Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur
- Juventus and Inter Milan
- Atletico Madrid and Sevilla
Champions League playoff round qualifiers
The winners of the following aggregate-goal playoff series joined the 26 automatic entrants in the Champions League group stage draw.
The first team listed below hosted the first leg. Teams that advanced indicated in bold.
| Match | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|
| Maccabi Haifa (Israel) vs. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) | 3-2 | 2-2 |
| FC Copenhagen (Denmark) vs. Trabzonspor (Turkey) | 2-1 | 0-0 |
| FK Bodo/Glimt (Norway) vs. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) | 1-0 | 1-4 (a.e.t.) |
| Qarabag (Azerbaijan) vs. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Rep.) | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Rangers (Scotland) vs. PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) | 2-2 | 1-0 |
| Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) vs. Benfica (Portugal) | 0-2 | 0-3 |
Champions League fixtures 2022/23
Preliminary & qualifying rounds schedule
| Round | Draw | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary qualifying round | June 7, 2022 | June 21, 2022 | June 24, 2022 |
| First qualifying round | June 14, 2022 | July 5-6, 2022 | July 12-13, 2022 |
| Second qualifying round | June 15, 2022 | July 19-20, 2022 | July 26-27, 2022 |
| Third qualifying round | July 18, 2022 | Aug. 2-3, 2022 | Aug. 9-10, 2022 |
| Playoff round | Aug. 2, 2022 | Aug. 16-17, 2022 | Aug. 23-24, 2022 |
Group stage schedule
The draw for the 2022/23 Champions League group stage will take place on August 25, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.
| Matchday | Dates |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sept. 6-7, 2022 |
| 2 | Sept. 13-14, 2022 |
| 3 | Oct. 4-5, 2022 |
| 4 | Oct. 11-12, 2022 |
| 5 | Oct. 25-26, 2022 |
| 6 | Nov. 1-2, 2022 |
Knockout stage schedule
The draw for the 2022/23 Champions League Round of 16 will take place on November 7, 2022.
The draw for the remaining rounds (quarter-finals and semi-finals) of the 2022/23 Champions League knockout stage will take place on March 17, 2023.
| Round | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 16 | Feb. 14-22, 2023 | Mar. 7-15, 2023 |
| Quarterfinals | Apr. 11-12, 2023 | Apr. 18-19, 2023 |
| Semifinals | May 9-10, 2023 | May 16-17, 2023 |
| Final | June 10, 2023 | |