Champions League draw LIVE: Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Tottenham learn group stage opponents
The Champions League draw revealed the 2022/23 fixtures and groups including Erling Haaland returning to Borussia Dortmund with Man City
Liverpool will face Rangers in the Champions League group stages, as the draw also set up an immediate reunion between Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and his former side Borussia Dortmund.
Liverpool and Rangers were also drawn with Ajax and Napoli in Group A, while Manchester City will face Sevilla and Copenhagen as well as the Bundesliga side.
Chelsea will play Italian champions AC Milan, FC Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb while Tottenham Hotspur also received a favourable draw, with Antonio Conte’s side being grouped with Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon and Marseille.
Celtic will play the holders Real Madrid along with RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk while the group of death sees Barcelona take on Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, as Robert Lewandowski also faces a trip back to his former side.
Follow live updates from the Champions League draw, below:
Champions League group stage draw
First out is RB Leipzig. They’ll be in one of Groups E to H. Hamit Altintop draws the group and it’s Group F, so Leipzig in with Real Madrid.
Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig
Champions League group stage draw
Ok, Pot 2 is up next. Three English teams in here (Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs). Here’s a reminder of the eight teams in that pot.
Pot 2: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig, Tottenham
Champions League group stage draw
Pot 1 teams are drawn first. This is the least exciting bit. Man City are the English representation here.
Ajax first out so they’re in Group A, then Porto are out, into Group B. The rest of Pot 1 follows
Group A: Ajax
Group B: Porto
Group C: Bayern Munich
Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt
Group E: AC Milan
Group F: Real Madrid
Group G: Manchester City
Group H: Paris St-Germain
Champions League group stage draw
Let’s not overcomplicate it - broadly, one team from each of the four pots will make up each group and teams from the same country can’t be in the same group. That’s more or less all you need to know.
Right, we’re about to get started - here’s a reminder of the four pots:
Pot 1: Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Man City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Ajax
Pot 2: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig, Tottenham
Pot 3: Borussia Dortmund, Red Bull Salzburg, Shaktar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, Bayer Leverkusen
Pot 4: Rangers, Dinamo Zagreb, Marseille, Copenhagen, Club Brugge, Celtic, Viktoria Plzen, Maccabi Haifa
Champions League group stage draw
Right, Giorgio Marchetti is also welcomed on stage, which means the start is imminent. Now here’s the explanation of the intricacies of the draw, including how it’s decided which teams are on which matchnight.
As mentioned earlier, from an English perspective, Liverpool and Man City will always play on separate matchnights, as will Chelsea and Spurs.
Champions League group stage draw
Hamit Altintop and Yaya Toure are on stage to help with the draw. We’re edging ever closer to things getting underway!
More stars on show
Here are a few more of the ex-players arriving a little earlier. Pavel Nedved, Vitor Baia, Franco Baresi and Javier Zanetti all in attendance
Arrigo Sacchi win UEFA President’s Award
The group stage draw is doubling up as the UEFA Awards ceremony this evening and we’ve had the first award handed out.
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin is welcomed to the stage to present the UEFA President’s Award and Arrigo Sacchi, who led AC Milan to two European Cups, picks up the gong. It’s a sort of lifetime achievement award and Sacchi is an absolute legend to be fair.
When will the fixtures be?
There will be six match days in order for all the group matches to be played ahead of the mid-season Qatar World Cup. They will take place on 6/7 September, 13/14 September, 4/5 October, 11/12 October, 25/26 October and 1/2 November.
The round of 16 is due to take place over two legs on 14/15/21/22 February and 7/8/14/15 March 2023. The quarter-finals are in the diary on 11/12 and 18/19 April 2023 with the semi-final on 9/10 and 16/17 May 2023 and the final on 10 June 2023.
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