Pots Finalized For UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw
The four pots for Thursday’s Champions League group stage draw were confirmed after Rangers, FC Copenhagen, and Dinamo Zagreb advanced through Wednesday’s playoff matches to take the tournament’s final three spots.
That trio immediately dropped into Pot 4 – reserved for the supposedly weaker sides in Europe’s premier competition – and therefore face the heightened prospect of being drawn into the proverbial Group of Death.
Maccabi Haifa, Viktoria Plzen, and Dinamo Zagreb have already played six matches to reach this stage. Their respective qualification campaigns started July 19-20.
Thursday’s much-anticipated draw takes place in Istanbul at 12:00 ET. The first matchday is set for Sept. 6-7.
The top eight seeds are the champions of each of Europe’s top leagues plus the Europa League winners. Therefore, Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Porto and Ajax will be in Pot 1.
Last season’s runner-ups Liverpool will be in Pot 2 along with the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur Barcelona, Juventus and Atletico Madrid.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW POT 1
- Real Madrid (Spain)
- Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
- Manchester City (England)
- AC Milan (Italy)
- Bayern Munich (Germany)
- Paris Saint-Germain (France)
- Porto (Portugal)
- Ajax (Netherlands)
Champions League Draw Pot 2
- Liverpool (England)
- Chelsea (England)
- Barcelona (Spain)
- Juventus (Italy)
- Atletico Madrid (Spain)
- Sevilla (Spain)
- RB Leipzig (Germany)
- Tottenham Hotspur (England)
Champions League Draw Pot 3
- Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
- Salzburg (Austria)
- Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
- Inter Milan (Italy)
- Napoli (Italy)
- Sporting CP (Portugal)
- Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
- Benfica (Portugal)
Champions League Draw Pot 4
- Marseille (France)
- Club Brugge (Belgium)
- Celtic (Scotland)
- Maccabi Haifa (Israel)
- Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
- Rangers (Scotland)
- Copenhagen (Denmark)
- Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
When is the Draw For the UEFA Champions League Group Stages?
The draw for the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stages takes place on Thursday, August 25 at 5pm, UK time.
The group-stage matches get started in the week of September 5.
Turkey’s capital, Istanbul, will play host to the draw with the final due to take place at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in June 2023.
