The draw for the group stage of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League took place on Thursday, with 32 teams from across Europe finding their opponents. You can continue to follow the live coverage here.
The draw was made between Liverpool and Rangers, while Manchester City will face Borussia Dortmund, while Chelsea will play Milan. In the meantime, Tottenham will play Marseille.
You can follow the reaction to the lottery Athletic A live blog, while our raffle companion provides everything you need to know about this season’s competition, from formatting and team pairings to the new rules.
The teams found out their fate in the group stage on Thursday, but fans will have to wait longer to find out their final match schedule, as the athlete explains.
Why are Champions League matches not released until after the draw?
UEFA is to organize match schedules and match calendars for three men’s club competitions this month: the Champions League, the Europa League and the European Conference League.
The Europa League and Europa League draw will take place on Friday from midday GMT and the team’s formation in the group stage draw has yet to be confirmed.
The Champions League qualifiers only concluded on Wednesday night, with 31 Europa League and European Conference League playoffs scheduled for Thursday night.
From UEFA’s perspective, this means a lot of ‘moving parts’, with administrative and planning tasks being completed across competitions before final schedules are released.
When are the matches likely to be complete?
The full schedule for the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League matches can be released later on Friday, after the Europa League draw.
But the athlete He understands that UEFA is likely to confirm the schedule on Saturday, along with the fixture dates for the Europa League and Europa League.
The clubs will then be able to start making logistical arrangements for what has been determined to be a trying period. The Premier League matches will be played from 5-6 November and 12-13 November after the sixth round of the Champions League – which means a jam of matches and tight turnovers for players and coaches ahead of the World Cup.
What are the Champions League groups?
Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers
Group B: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge
Group C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen
Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille
Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea, Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb
Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic
Group G: Manchester City, Seville, Borussia Dortmund, Copenhagen
Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa
What do we already know about fixtures?
UEFA has already confirmed the fixture dates in phases, with the group stage starting on September 6-7, and the final – at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey – scheduled for Saturday, May 28, 2023.
Last season’s group stage ran until December, but this season, it will be condensed to nine weeks to accommodate the Winter World Cup in Qatar, which kicks off on November 20.
The final round of group matches will take place on November 1 and 2, with the successful teams discovering their Round of 16 opponents when the draw takes place on November 7.
We also know that some geographically close clubs will play their matches on different days.
UEFA introduced a pairing system – set by the television audience as well as the country – to ensure that two clubs from the same country would divide their matches during the Tuesday and Wednesday of the match week.
UEFA Champions League Pairs:
- Real Madrid and Barcelona
- Frankfurt and Leipzig
- Manchester City and Liverpool
- Milan and Naples
- Bayern and Dortmund
- Paris and Marseille
- Porto and Benfica
- Chelsea and Tottenham
- Juventus and Inter
- Atletico Madrid and Seville
- Celtic Rangers
2022-23 UEFA Champions League schedule
group stage
- First round: September 6-7
- Second round: September 13-14
- Third round: 4-5 October
- Fourth round: October 11-12
- Fifth round: October 25-26
- Sixth round: 1-2 November
Knockout stage
- Round of 16: 14-15 / 21-22 February and 7-8 / 14-15 March
- Quarter-finals: April 11-12 and 18-19
- Semi-finals: May 9-10 and May 16-17
- Final: June 10
Follow the Champions League draw with Athletic live blog.
(Photo: Getty Images)
