UEFA Champions League group stage draw: Where is it, when is it, who is involved?

The 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage draw takes place in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Thursday 25 August and will be streamed live from 18:00 CET.

Which teams will line up in the group stage draw?

The draw will feature 32 teams – the 26 automatic qualifiers and six play-off round winners – split into four seeding pots.

The line-up is subject to final confirmation by UEFA.

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

How the Champions League group stage draw works

• The draw features 32 teams: 26 teams given direct entry to the group stage and the six winners of the play-off ties.
• The teams have been split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 consists of the holders, the UEFA Europa League winners and the champions of England, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal and Netherlands. Pots 2 to 4 were determined by the club coefficient rankings.
• In the case of associations with two representatives, clubs have been paired in order to split their matches between Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Where associations have three representatives, only two clubs will be paired. In the case of associations with four or five representatives, two pairings will be made. These pairings are to be based on TV audiences.
• No team can play a side from their own association. Any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw.

What happens next?

Fixtures will be confirmed after the draw 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 round play-offs, 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

Where is the 2023 Champions League final?

The 2022/23 Champions League final will take place on 10 June 2023 at Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium, venue for Liverpool's famous comeback victory over AC Milan in the 2005 showpiece.