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It’s that time of the year again. Europe’s top domestic football leagues like the Premier League, LaLiga, and Serie A all got underway earlier in August, and the much-anticipated UEFA Champions League 2022-23 seasons kicks off on 6 September, a week in advance from the usual Matchday due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar from 20 November. As is the tradition, 32 of Europe’s top football clubs will view for the UEFA Champions League trophy, the group stage draw of which was held in Turkey’s Istanbul.
The stage is set 🙌#UCL || #UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/7YlTCcFnAH
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 25, 2022
The final of the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 season will take place in Istanbul on 10 June 2023. Real Madrid are the defending champions, having beaten Liverpool 1-0 in 2021-22 final to clinch a record 14th title. The likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool will all be heavy favourites this time around while teams like Eintracht Frankfurt would hope to spring a surprise against the top sides. A total of 26 teams automatically qualified for the upcoming season, while six others have advanced through the playoff round final. As always, 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four, with the top two advancing to the round of 16. No teams from the same associations/ country can play against eachother. Interestingly, to ensure that paired clubs from the same country play on different days, the groups will be distinguished by Red and Blue colours. Groups A to D - Red Groups E to H - Blue After a paired club is drawn, from one colour (for example blue), the other paired club - once it has been drawn - will be assigned to one of the four red clubs. Paired clubs: 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 Here are the four Pots for the group stage draw of the UEFA Champions League: 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) RB 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 Marseille (FRA) Club Brugge (BEL) Celtic (SCO) Rangers (SCO) Dinamo (CRO) Maccabi Haifa (ISR) Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) Copenhagen (DEN)
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