What time is Champions League group stage draw? Teams, pots and 2022/23 details

Joshua Thomas

What time is Champions League group stage draw? Teams, pots and 2022/23 details image

The 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage is set to take shape when the draw is held on Thursday, August 25. 

Real Madrid won the competition last season after beating Liverpool 1-0 in the final. The two powerhouses could potentially be drawn against one another in the group stage given they will be placed in different pots.

Following the qualifying rounds that occurred over the summer, the new Champions League campaign officially kicks off with the group stage draw which will see 26 automatic entrants joined by the six teams that emerged from qualifying.

Prior to the draw, the 32 clubs are allocated into four pots based on different UEFA rankings as explained below. They will be drawn into eight groups each comprised of four teams.

The complete details of the draw, including date, time, TV, and streaming follow below.

MORE: Dream Champions League draw? It looks something like this

What time is Champions League group stage draw

The 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage draw will take place on August 25 at 18:00 local time in Istanbul, Turkey. 

The final three spots in the group stage will be decided just 24 hours prior to the draw as the playoffs wrap up. 

Country Date Time TV channel Streaming
Australia Fri, Aug. 26 02:00 AEST  — Stan Sport
Canada Thurs, Aug. 25 12:00 ET  — DAZN
Hong Kong Fri, Aug. 26 00:00 HKT  — UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube
India Thurs, Aug. 25 21:30 IST  — UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube
Malaysia Fri, Aug. 26 00:00 MYT  — UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube
New Zealand Fri, Aug. 26 04:00 NZST  — UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube
Singapore Fri, Aug. 26 00:00 SST  — UEFA.tv, UEFA YouTube
UK Thurs, Aug. 25 17:00 BST BT Sport 1 BT Sport site/app
USA Thurs, Aug. 25 12:00 ET TUDN fuboTV, Vix+, Paramount+,
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UEFA Champions League draw balls pot
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Champions League teams and pots for group stage draw

Pot 1 will consist of the defending Champions League (Real Madrid) and Europa League (Eintracht Frankfurt) title winners, plus the reigning league champions of each of the top six nations as ranked by UEFA country coefficient list.

Since Real Madrid are the Spanish league champions (a top-six nation) as well as defending UEFA Champions League holders, the Pot 1 spot reserved for the Spanish champions is assigned to the next best nation in the coefficient list. In this case, the Netherlands and its reigning Eredivisie champion Ajax were elevated to Pot 1.

As for Pots 2, 3, and 4, those are based on the UEFA club coefficient list, which is a mathematical formula to evaluate a specific club's performance in domestic and continental competitions over the past five years. 

Each club's UEFA club coefficient ranking is included for Pots 2-4 below since club seeding in those pots is based on the coefficient ranking. 

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
Real Madrid
(Champions League)
2-Liverpool 19-Borussia Dortmund 33-Rangers
Eintracht Frankfurt
(Europa League)
5-Chelsea 21-RB Salzburg 34-Dinamo Zagreb
Manchester City
(1st, England)
6-Barcelona 22-Shakhtar Donetsk 38-Olympique Marseille
AC Milan
(1st, Italy)
8-Juventus 23-Inter Milan 41-FC Copenhagen
Bayern Munich
(1st, Germany)
9-Atletico Madrid 25-Napoli 44-Club Brugge
PSG
(1st, France)
12-Sevilla 27-Benfica 51-Celtic
Porto
(1st, Portugal)
13-RB Leipzig 28-Sporting CP 55-Viktoria Plzen
Ajax
(1st, Netherlands)
14-Tottenham 30-Bayer Leverkusen 169-Maccabi Haifa

One club is selected from each pot to make up the eight groups of four teams each.

Clubs from the same country cannot be drawn in the same group and must be moved to the next available group.

MORE: Who will win the 2022-23 Champions League? Odds and betting picks

No. of
clubs
Nation Clubs
5 Germany Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen,
RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt
4 England Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham
4 Italy AC Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli, Juventus
4 Spain Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla
3 Portugal Benfica, Porto, Sporting CP
2 France PSG, Olympique Marseille
2 Scotland Celtic, Rangers
1 Austria RB Salzburg
1 Belgium Club Brugge
1 Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
1 Czech Rep Viktoria Plzen
1 Denmark FC Copenhagen
1 Israel Maccabi Haifa
1 Netherlands Ajax
1 Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk

In addition, UEFA pairs together certain clubs from the same nation to ensure they don't play at the same time during the group stage (to optimise viewership audience). As such, when any of the teams below are drawn into groups A-D, their paired team will automatically be assigned to one of groups E-H, and vice-versa: 

  • Real Madrid and Barcelona 
  • Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig 
  • Manchester City and Liverpool
  • AC Milan and Napoli 
  • Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund 
  • Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille 
  • FC Porto and Benfica 
  • Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur 
  • Juventus and Inter Milan 
  • Atletico Madrid and Sevilla 

MORE: Results and highlights from Champions League qualifying stages

Champions League fixtures 2022/23

The group stage will wrap up by Nov. 2 with the knockout rounds commencing more than three months later.

Group stage schedule

The draw for the 2022/23 Champions League group stage will take place on August 25, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Matchday Dates
1 Sept. 6-7, 2022
2 Sept. 13-14, 2022
3 Oct. 4-5, 2022
4 Oct. 11-12, 2022
5 Oct. 25-26, 2022
6 Nov. 1-2, 2022

Knockout stage schedule

The draw for the 2022/23 Champions League Round of 16 will take place on November 7, 2022. 

The draw for the remaining rounds (quarter-finals and semi-finals) of the 2022/23 Champions League knockout stage will take place on March 17, 2023.

Round 1st Leg 2nd Leg
Round of 16 Feb. 14-22, 2023 Mar. 7-15, 2023
Quarter-finals Apr. 11-12, 2023 Apr. 18-19, 2023
Semi-finals May 9-10, 2023 May 16-17, 2023
Final June 10, 2023 (in Istanbul, Turkey)

Joshua Thomas

Joshua Thomas Photo

Josh has been covering sport for nearly a decade now having fallen in love with football at a young age. A UTS graduate, Josh has previously worked for GOAL and now covers football closely for The Sporting News.