The draw for the 2023-23 Champions League group stage takes place today, with Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle waiting to find out which of Europe’s elite they will be paired with.
The draw is particularly significant for Newcastle, as it is their first appearance in the competition in more than two decades. Their first and only crack at it came back in 2002-03, when they reached the second group stage – a part of the competition that has since been scrapped.
Arsenal, too, have been absent for some time. They last graced Europe’s premier club competition in 2016-17, when they reached the round of 16.
The Manchester clubs have far more recent history. City, of course, come into this year’s tournament as champions, thanks to their 1-0 victory over Inter to complete their treble in June.
What time is the Champions League draw?
The Champions League draw is on Thursday 31 August starting at 5pm BST. However, there is always a significant amount of fanfare before the draw itself actually gets going, so don’t expect the balls to start coming out of the pots immediately.
The 2022-23 Uefa Men’s Player of the Year, Women’s Player of the Year, Men’s Coach of the Year and Women’s Coach of the Year awards will also be presented during the draw ceremony.
The draw is taking place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and will be streamed live on the Uefa website and YouTube channel.
It will also be shown live on TNT Sports for subscribers.
Champions League group stage dates
Matchday 1: 19-20 September 2023
Matchday 2: 3-4 October 2023
Matchday 3: 24-25 October 2023
Matchday 4: 7-8 November 2023
Matchday 5: 28-29 November 2023
Matchday 6: 12-13 December 2023
How does the Champions League draw work?
The 32 teams are split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 consists of last season’s Champions League winners, Europa League winners and six domestic champions. Pots 2 to 4 are determined by Uefa’s club coefficient rankings, which are based on previous performance.
One club from each pot is drawn into each of the eight groups. Clubs from the same country cannot be drawn together at this stage.
Here are the pots for today’s draw:
Pot 1
- Manchester City (ENG)
- Sevilla FC (ESP)
- FC Barcelona (ESP)
- SSC Napoli (ITA)
- FC Bayern München (GER)
- Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
- SL Benfica (POR)
- Feyenoord (NED)
Pot 2
- Real Madrid CF (ESP)
- Manchester United (ENG)
- FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
- Borussia Dortmund (GER)
- Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
- RB Leipzig (GER)
- FC Porto (POR)
- Arsenal FC (ENG)
Pot 3
- FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
- FC Salzburg (AUT)
- AC Milan (ITA)
- SC Braga (POR)
- PSV Eindhoven (NED)
- SS Lazio (ITA)
- FK Crvena zvezda (SRB)
- FC Copenhagen (DEN)
Pot 4
- BSC Young Boys (SUI)
- Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP)
- Galatasaray AS (TUR)
- Celtic FC (SCO)
- Newcastle United FC (ENG)
- 1 FC Union Berlin (GER)
- Royal Antwerp FC (BEL)
- RC Lens (FRA)
Fixtures will be confirmed after the draw, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the round of 16. The third-placed sides in each group transfer to the Europa League knockout round play-offs, where they will face the Europa League group runners-up for places in the last 16.
Where is the Champions League final in 2024?
The Champions League final will be held at London’s Wembley Stadium on 1 June 2024.
This will be a record eighth time Wembley has played host, and the third within the Champions League era. In 2011, Barcelona beat Manchester United 3-1, and two years later Bayern Munich beat German counterparts Borussia Dortmund 2-1.
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