The 2022/23 Champions League Group Stage Draw

29/08/22 3030

With the playoffs complete, we know the clubs that will be competing in the group stage of the 2022/23 Champions League.

Group C looks to be the most exciting in terms of big name teams, with Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Viktoria Plzen completing the group. Inter Milan finished second in their group last season to progress to the round of 16 but fell to Liverpool.

However, the Italians have been eliminated at the group stage twice in the last three seasons, both times at the hands of Spanish and German opposition.

Nonetheless, both Barcelona and Bayern Munich will be nervous entering this group and every match could have something riding on it until the final round of games are complete.

Defending champions, Real Madrid, will be happy enough with their group containing RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Celtic.

Real Madrid are the clear favourites to win this group and there could be a closely fought contest between the other three clubs for second place. RB Leipzig must start as favourites but Celtic will be hoping they can make life tough for all the teams at Celtic Park.

2021/22 runners-up, Liverpool, would have been happy to be joined by Ajax but the additions of Napoli and Rangers were not so kind.

The away matches for Liverpool could all be tough in this group and it only takes one upset at Anfield for Group A to become extremely exciting.

Napoli have beat Liverpool at home in previous Champions League campaigns and the atmosphere at Ibrox Stadium as Rangers return to the competition for the first time in 12 years will be incredible.

The matches between Paris St-Germain and Juventus in Group H should attract plenty of attention. Benfica will be hoping to get between the two European giants to sneak a place in the last 16 of the Champions League, as they did last season when the Portuguese club reached the quarter final.

2019 finalists, Tottenham Hotspur will be delighted with their draw as they face Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting Lisbon, and Marseille. All the teams in the second pot were hoping to draw Eintracht Frankfurt as their number one seed and it was Spurs who got lucky.

Manchester City are still hoping to win the Champions League under the guidance of Pep Guardiola for the first time.

They reached the final in 2021, only to lose to fellow Premier League club, Chelsea. Erling Haaland will see his former teammates sooner than anticipated in the games against Borussia Dortmund, with Sevilla and FC Copenhagen completing Group G.

Elsewhere, Group B contains Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, and Club Bruges, with the Spanish club the clear favourites to top the group. Group E contains AC Milan, Chelsea, RB Salzburg, and Dinamo Zagreb.

Both AC Milan and Chelsea will believe they have more than enough to finish in the top places and qualify for the knockout stages.