Uefa Champions League Draw: All you need to know

The 2022/23 Uefa Champions League group stage draw takes place in Istanbul, Turkey, on Thursday 25 August and will be live on SuperSport and Showmax Pro from 18:00 CAT. Here is all you need to know…

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. 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)

OTHER POTS
- Liverpool (ENG)
- Chelsea (ENG)
- Barcelona (ESP)
- Juventus (ITA)
- Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
- Sevilla (ESP)
- RB Leipzig (GER)
- Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
- Borussia Dortmund (GER)
- Salzburg (AUT)
- Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
- Inter (ITA)
- Napoli (ITA)
- Sporting CP (POR)
- Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
- Marseille (FRA)
- Club Brugge (BEL)
- Celtic (SCO)
- Benfica (POR)
- Maccabi Haifa (ISR)
- Viktoria Plzen (CZE)
- Rangers (SCO)
- Copenhagen (DEN)
- Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)

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 will be split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 will consist 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 the case of associations with two representatives, clubs will be paired in order to split their matches between Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In the case of associations with four 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 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

Source: UEFA.com