Teams will find out their 2023-24 UEFA Champions League fates when the group-stage draw takes place at the end of August.
The line-up is nearly complete, with six places left to be confirmed after the second legs of the qualifying play-offs on August 30.
Once all 32 competing sides have been determined, the draw will be conducted.
When and where is the Champions League group-stage draw?
The Champions League group-stage draw will take place on Thursday, August 31 at 5pm BST / 6pm CET/ 12pm ET/ 9am PT.
It will be hosted at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco for the first time in three years.
Last year, the group-stage draw took place in Istanbul, the city hosting the final. This season, Wembley Stadium in London is hosting the final.
How does the Champions League group-stage draw work?
The 32 teams are split into four pots of eight teams.
Pot 1 comprises last season’s Champions League and Europa League winners, along with the domestic champions of England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Portugal.
The reigning champions are in Pot 1 (Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
As Manchester City won the Champions League and the Premier League, the final place in Pot 1 was given to the champions of the Netherlands, Feyenoord.
The teams in Pots 2 to 4 are determined using the club coefficient rankings.
Each group will be made up of one team each from Pot 1, Pot 2, Pot 3 and Pot 4.
Teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other in the group stage. For example, Barcelona and Real Madrid could not be drawn in the same group, despite being in separate pots.
Which teams are in which pots?
UEFA will confirm the seedings and make-up of the pots on the morning of the draw, but — based on UEFA’s current club coefficients — here’s what we know so far:
Newcastle are in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years (Getty Images)
Pot 1 : Manchester City, Sevilla, Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Paris-Saint Germain, Benfica, Feyenoord.
Pot 2 : Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, Porto, Arsenal.
Pot 3 : Shakhtar Donetsk, Red Bull Salzburg, AC Milan, Lazio, Red Star Belgrade, Braga.
Pot 4 : Newcastle United, Union Berlin, Lens, Real Sociedad, Celtic, Galatasaray.
Unconfirmed : Young Boys
Which teams could still qualify?
There are three places left to decide.
On Tuesday, Braga, Galatasaray, and Young Boys confirmed their group-stage places with victories against Panathinaikos, Molde and Maccabi Haifa respectively.
That leaves three play-off ties to be decided this evening. Here are the scores heading into the second legs:
(The teams playing at home in the second leg have been listed first)
- AEK Athens 0-1 Antwerp
- Copenhagen 1-0 Rakow
- PSV 2-2 Rangers
When does the Champions League group stage start?
The full fixture schedule will be announced after the draw has concluded, with the first set of games played across Tuesday, September 19 and Wednesday, September 20.
- Fixture 1 : September 19/20, 2023
- Fixture 2 : October 3/4, 2023
- Fixture 3 : October 24/25, 2023
- Fixture 4 : November 7/8, 2023
- Fixture 5 : November 28/29, 2023
- Fixture 6 : December 12/13, 2023
What are the other Champions League key dates?
Wembley will host the 2024 Champions League final on June 1 (Justin Tallis/Getty Images)
The dates for all the draws are:
- Group stage draw : August 31, 2023
- Round of 16 draw : December 18, 2023
- Quarter-final and semi-final draw : March 15, 2024
The dates for the knockout rounds are:
- Round of 16 first leg : February 13, 14, 20 & 21, 2024
- Round of 16 second leg : March 5, 6, 12 & 13, 2024
- Quarter-final first leg : April 9 & 10, 2024
- Quarter-final second leg : April 16 & 17, 2024
- Semi-final first leg : April 30, 2024 & May 1, 2024
- Semi-final second leg : May 7, 2024 & May 8, 2024
- Final : June 1, 2024
Does anything else happen during the draw ceremony?
UEFA will announce several awards from last season’s competition during the group stage draw ceremony.
Here are the awards and the nominees:
- 2022-23 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year : Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi
- 2022-23 UEFA Women’s Player of the Year : Aitana Bonmati, Sam Kerr, Olga Carmona
- 2022-23 UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year : Pep Guardiola, Simone Inzaghi, Luciano Spalletti
- 2022-23 UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year : Jonatan Giraldez, Jorge Vilda, Sarina Wiegman
(Top photo: Kristian Skeie – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
