For the first time, five Bundesliga teams will compete in the Champions League group stage in 2022/23. When will the draw be made? What do the pots look like? The most important information at a glance.
When and where will the draw for the 2022/23 Champions League group stage take place?
On 25 August, UEFA will draw lots in Istanbul to determine the line-up of the eight Champions League groups for the 2022/23 season.
Which 32 teams are qualified for the Champions League group stage?
26 participants have already been determined, including five Bundesliga teams for the first time ever: champions FC Bayern, runners-up Borussia Dortmund, third-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen and fourth-placed RB Leipzig will be joined by Eintracht Frankfurt as reigning Europa League winners. The six remaining teams will not be determined until the Champions League play-offs on 23 and 24 August.
How does the draw for the Champions League group stage work?
The 32 teams will be allocated to four draw pots. Pot 1 contains, as usual, the defending champion, the winner of the Europa League and the champions of the six top-ranked nations according to UEFA rankings. The remaining pots will be filled exclusively in descending order according to the UEFA ranking. Each of the eight groups will ultimately contain one team from each of the four pots.
What will be the 2022/23 pots for the Champions League group stage draw?
Pot 1: Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Manchester City, AC Milan, FC Bayern, Paris St. Germain, FC Porto, Ajax Amsterdam
Pot 2: Liverpool FC, Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla FC, RB Leipzig, Tottenham Hotspur
Pot 3: Borussia Dortmund, RB Salzburg, Schachtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, SSC Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Bayer Leverkusen (plus one team depending on the outcome of the qualifiers)
Pot 4: Club Brugge, Celtic (plus six teams depending on the outcome of the qualifiers)
Qualified, but pot allocation still unclear: Olympique Marseille
What restrictions are there in the Champions League group stage?
As always, clubs from the same association cannot yet meet in the group stage. In addition, UEFA forms “pairs” for associations with several qualified clubs, which are placed in such a way that they do not play their group matches on the same evening. In Germany, Bayern and BVB, for example, are likely to form such a team. UEFA will announce further restrictions before the draw.
What are the most important dates of the 2022/23 Champions League group stage?
Due to the Winter World Cup in Qatar, the group stage this year will already be completed at the beginning of November:
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
When will the Champions League Round of 16 be drawn?
UEFA will also do this before the start of the World Cup. The eight pairings will be drawn on 7 November. The first two teams in each group will qualify. The third-placed teams in each group will go on to play in the Europa League.
When and where will the 2023 Champions League Final take place?
On 10 June 2023, the handle pot is to be awarded at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium. However, the most recent three finals were all not held at the originally designated final venue. In 2020 and 2021, Istanbul was deprived of the final because of the Corona pandemic, and in 2022 St. Petersburg because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Now it should work out with Istanbul. In 2024, the final is scheduled for Wembley, then in Munich in 2025.
