Updated 25/08/2022 19:28 CEST
Hello everybody and welcome in to this very special MARCA In English live blog this Thursday evening, as we provide you with all the details of the 2022/23 Champions League group stage draw as and when they come out.
The draw is taking place in Istanbul, Turkey, this August 25, as the Champions League final is scheduled to be held in the country.
This UEFA event should get up and running at 19:00 TRT, the local time in Istanbul, which is 18:00 CEST in western Europe, 17:00 BST in the United Kingdom or 12:00 ET on the east coast of the USA.
Awards will be given out too this Thursday evening, with Karim Benzema and Real Madrid expected to collect a lot of them after their performances last season, while the Champions League group stage draw will then split the 32 teams across eight groups.
All the updates from Istanbul follow along below, with the most recent coming nearest the top.
Champions League Group Stage Draw, Live Text Updates
Thanks to tuning in to our Champions League group stage draw live blog, where we'll have all the updates as the balls come out.
While there will be a lot of stopping and starting to dish out prizes, the ultimate aim is to decide the groups for the 32 teams who have qualified.
Here comes a list of all those qualified teams and what pots they find themselves in.
Pot One: Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Ajax.
Pot Two: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig and Tottenham Hotspur.
Pot Three: Borussia Dortmund, FC Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter, Napoli, Benfica, Sporting CP and Bayer Leverkusen.
Pot Four: Rangers, Dinamo Zagreb, Marseille, FC Copenhagen, Club Brugge, Celtic, Viktoria Plzen and Maccabi Haifa.
02.11.2022 23:50
PSG pipped to top spot by rampant Benfica
Nuno Mendes scored the winning goal within moments of coming on as a second-half substitute as Paris Saint-Germain beat Juventus 2-1 in Turin on Wednesday but the French side missed out on top spot in Champions League Group H in dramatic fashion to a rampant Benfica.... more »
02.11.2022 23:44
Chilwell injury sours Chelsea's win
England are likely to be without Ben Chilwell at the World Cup after the left-back pulled up with a hamstring injury in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday.... more »
In a unique season that will feature a fall World Cup, the 2022-23 Champions League group stage is complete after Thursday’s group stage draw—and it features quite a formidable Group of Death.
For the second straight season, Bayern Munich and Barcelona were drawn into the same group, and their chances of reaching the knockout stage were made more complicated when Serie A title favorite Inter Milan was added to the mix along with Czech champion Viktoria Plzeň.
Real Madrid, the 14-time champion, enters the season as the reigning champion and was given a favorable draw featuring RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic. Meanwhile, the general atmosphere of Group A is sure to entertain with the legendary fanbases of Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli and Rangers all present.
Here are the eight groups in full:
Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers
Group B: Porto, Atlético Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge
Group C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzeň
Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille
Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb
Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic
Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Copenhagen
Group H: PSG, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa
After Eintracht Frankfurt won the Europa League title last season, Germany is the most represented nation in the Champions League group stage with five clubs, while England, Italy and Spain will each send four teams.
Six teams [FC Copenhagen, Dinamo Zagreb, Rangers, Viktoria Plzeň, Benfica and Maccabi Haifa] qualified for the group stage via a qualifying playoff, while the other 26 clubs earned automatic berths through their respective league standing or, in Eintracht Frankfurt’s case, by winning the Europa League.
Typically, the group stage schedule stretches from September to December. However, since the 2022 World Cup will take place from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18, the Champions League group stage will be played under a compressed schedule that will see all six matchdays being played within two months.
Matchday 1: September 6, 7
Matchday 2: September 13, 14
Matchday 3: October 4, 5
Matchday 4: October 11, 12
Matchday 5: October 25, 26
Matchday 6: November 1, 2
Eighteen years after the iconic “Miracle of Istanbul” Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan, Atatürk Olympic Stadium will host the June 10 final to conclude the season.
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