The 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage draw took place in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Thursday 25 August 18:00 CET.
The draw featured 32 teams: 26 teams given direct entry to the group stage and the six winners of the play-off ties. The teams were splitted into four seeding pots. Pot 1 consists of the holders, the UEFA Europa League winners, and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations who did not qualify via one of the 2021/22 titles; Pots 2 to 4 will be determined by the club coefficient rankings.
In Group A, last year’s finalist and six-time UEFA CL conquerors Liverpool will battle it out with Eridivese proponents and 18/19 season semi-finalist Ajax Amsterdam who will be looking to make a statement after the departure of Coach Erik Ten hag to Manchester united. The same group comprises Italian Seria A outfit Napoli who are possibly not sure of what the fortune holds after the exit of their veteran players Lorenzo insigne, Dries Mertens, and GK David Ospina who has left for Al Nasr, but the Napoliteans would be looking to heap on the profile of their star striker Victor Oshimen to steer the line. The last group has the Scottish cup champion Rangers who will make it a British affair with Liverpool in the group stage clashes.
Group B comprises Portuguese Champions FC Porto, third force Spanish la Liga side Athletico Madrid, German Bundesliga side Bayern 04 Leverkusen, and lastly Belgian side Club bridge. Porto has a giant history in UCL, with two titles under their belt from 1987 & 2004 while they will be looking to come top of the group ahead of Athletico Madrid who is still chasing her first title. Bayern Leverkusen and Club Brugge complete the group pairing.
Group C, is regarded as the group of death. 2019/2021 Champion and six-time European Cup/ UEFA CL winners Bayern Munich will trade tackles with Spanish la Liga giants Barcelona who are looking to return to winning ways in the UCL after their UCL group stage exit in the last Mundial and a subsequent drop to the Europa League where they reached the semi-finals before being edged out by German Bundesliga side Frankfurt who went on to win the UEL trophy. Lewandowski-less Bayern Munich and Lewandowski-owned Barcelona were in the same group last season where the Bavarian defeated the Blaugrana by three goals to nothing in both legs. 2010 winners Inter Milan will be buoyed by the partnership of returnee Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea and Argentine Lautaro Martinez to lead the Blue-black pack against the big goons to edge either of them out for a spot in the knockout stages. Last in the group is Czech first league side Viktoria Plzen who are currently 7th in their league standings.
In group D, Frankfurt Europa League winner who automatically qualified for the group stages of the UCL after finishing 7th last term will trade tackles with English Premiership side Tottenham hotspur led by Antonio Conte. Spurs pipped their City rivals Arsenal to the CL spot last season as the fourth place team and will be looking to go a step further from their 2018/2019 CL final loss to Liverpool in Madrid. Portuguese side Sporting CP and French Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille complete the group standings.
Group E comprises seven times UCL winners and Italian Serie A champion AC Milan who will be looking to add one more title to their collections and bank on their experience in the competition, a title they last won in 2007. The Black and Red stripes team will hope to make a statement beyond the group stage, unlike the last term where they finished below Liverpool and ATM in the group stage standings. This time around it will be a battle of supremacy with another English side Chelsea, a two-time UCL winner themselves, a title they last won in 20/21 pipping Manchester City to the title. The Thomas Tuchel-led side will have to show they are off the mark under new owner Todd Bhoely and the consortium. The other two teams in the group stages are Austrian Champion RB Salzburg and Czech first league side, Dynamo Zagreb.
In Group F, current UCL title holders and 14th-time UCL winner Real Madrid will once again try to show why they are the best side in the competition as they host German Bundesliga side, RB Leipzig, Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk who had their season scuppered the last term due to the Russian invasion leading to war. While the last team is Scottish first division side Celtic who will be looking to see how far they can go in the competition, a title they last won I 1966/1967 season. Real Madrid this season will be lining out without the services of their serial winners Marcelo who has left the club after many years of service, Isco Alarcon who recently left for Sevilla, and newly departed Casemiro who has left for Manchester United in a £70m after 9 years with the Los Blancos.
In Group G, EPL title holders Manchester city who are still chasing their first UCL title in their history and also under Spanish coach Pep Guardiola. It will be a return back to sign Iduna park for their summer signing Erling haaland who arrived from the yellow laces team for £51.1m. The citizens will be hoping to go two hurdles better to clinching the title after exiting the tournament last term in an unfortunate manner conceding late goals to eventual winner Real Madrid. They will play host to three other teams in the group, la liga Santander side Sevilla, German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund who will be without the services of Erling Haaland who has left for Manchester city and the loss of new arrival Sabastian Haller to health reasons. Lastly, Danish Super liga side completes the teams in the standings.
In group H, Paris Saint German who are still chasing their first CL title in their history will hope to bank on the array of their global stars in World cup winner Kylian Mbappe who decided to renew his contract with the Parisians after almost leaving for Real Madrid, Red hit Brazilian super star Neymar Junior who has scores 5 goals and assured 6 already this term. They can also boast on the antecedent and supremacy of their 7 time balon d’or winner Lionel Messi to lead the title charge this season. It will perhaps be the primary assignment for new coach Christopher Gatlier who arrived from Lille last term after the departure of Mauricio Pochettino. Also in the group are Italian Seria A giant and two time UCL winner Juventus who will be looking to add to this cabinet, a title they last won in 1984/1985 season. The old ladies led by Massimiliano Aleggri will be buoyed by the arrival of Paul Pogba from Manchester United , Angel di Maria from who will be making a return back to Paris where he played for seven seasons and Dusan vlahovic from Fiorentina i the January transfer window. 1961/1962 winner and last season’s quarter finalist Benfica are the third team in the standings, they will be lining out without their former striker Darwin Nunez who has since left for Liverpool. The last team in the group is Isreali Premier league side Macabi Haifa who will be vying it out with other teams in order to progress to the next round
Fixtures will be confirmed later for a group stage which will be contracted over an eight-week period this autumn because of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The top two teams in each group advance to the round of 16.
The third-placed sides in each group transfer to the UEFA Europa League knockout stage, where they will face the UEFA Europa League group runners-up for places in the last 16.
What are the Champions League group stage dates?
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
