Europe’s premier club competition, the UEFA Champions League, will be making a return for its 69th consecutive season in less than four weeks.
The 2023–24 Champions League campaign promises to be an intriguing one, as it marks the 32nd year since the competition was renamed from the European Cup. The 32 teams that will be making a run at being crowned as the European continent’s most elite club will get to know their fate at the competition’s draws later this week.
With about 91 percent of the teams that will be participating in the tournament confirmed as at today, several European heavyweights like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Paris Saint-Germain will be looking to dethrone defending champions Manchester City, whom many see as the favourites to retain the title.
The draws for the group stages of the 2023–24 Champions League season are slated for Thursday, August 31, at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, at 5 p.m. WAT.
How does the draw work?
32 teams from across Europe will be split into four seeding pots, with Pot 1 containing the current title holders, the winners of the UEFA Europa League, and the winners of the six domestic leagues.
Pots 2 to 4 of the draws will be determined by the club coefficient rankings done by UEFA.
After the draws, the 32 teams will be split into eight groups (Groups A–H) of four teams each, and no team from the same association will play each other at the group phase.
Which teams have qualified already?
29 teams have booked a spot in the group stages of the competition, with three other teams set to join them after the second leg of their playoff qualifiers on Wednesday.
The guaranteed sides include four teams each from England, Germany, and Italy; five from Spain; two from France; and three from Portugal.
England: Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle
Spain: Atlético, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Sevilla
Germany: Bayern, Dortmund, Leipzig, Union Berlin
Italy: Inter, Lazio, Milan, Napoli
France: Lens, Paris
Portugal: Benfica, Braga, Porto
Netherlands: Feyenoord
Austria: Salzburg
Scotland: Celtic
Serbia: Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade)
Switzerland: Young Boys
Turkey: Galatasaray
Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk
When does the group stages begin?
The group stages of the 2023–24 Champions League season kick off on Tuesday, September 19, and end on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
The top two teams from the eight groups after the end of the group matches progress to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams will be relegated to Europe’s second division, the Europa League, where they will face the competition’s group runners-up for a spot in the Europa League last 16.
Full Group Stage Schedule
Matchday 1: 19–20 September 2023
Matchday 2: 3–4 October 2023
Matchday 3: 24–25 October 2023
Matchday 4: 7–8 November 2023
Matchday 5: 28–29 November 2023
Matchday 6: 12–13 December 2023
When does the knockout stage begin?
The draw for the 2023/24 Champions League Round of 16 will take place on Monday, December 18, 2023, while the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be carried out on Friday, March 15, 2024.
Full Knockout Phase Schedule
Round of 16: 19–20 February 2024; 20–21 February 2024; 5–6 March 2024; 12–13 March 2024
Quarter-finals: 9–10 April 2024; 16–17 April 2024
Semi-finals: 30 April–1 May 2024; 7–8 May 2024
When and where is the final?
The final of the 2023–24 Champions League season will return to England’s most prestigious ground, Wembley Stadium, for a record eighth time and for the third time in the new era since the 2011 and 2013 seasons.
The final match of the competition will be played at the London ground on Saturday, June 1, 2024.
UCL Playoffs Teams
***FC Copenhagen v Raków Częstochowa (Agg: 1-0)
***AEK Athens v Royal Antwerp (Agg: 0-1)
***PSV v Rangers (Agg: 2-2)
