Any staff with designs on profitable the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League wants to start out by getting out of the group stage first. That path will change into clear after the group-stage draw is held on Thursday, August 25.
The best way the teams shake out will give us an early indication as to which of the favorites can have a harder street to the knockouts, and which outsiders may need a better likelihood of wreaking havoc on this season’s event.
How does the Champions League group stage work?
Every of the eight teams will consist of 4 groups. No groups from the identical nation will probably be drawn collectively at this stage (or, certainly, within the Spherical of 16).
They play a round-robin format, with both sides going through the opposite three opponents residence and away.
On the conclusion of these six group matches, solely the highest two finishers in every group will advance to the knockout stage. That whittles down the unique area of 32 golf equipment to a bunch of 16 that may maintain their trophy desires alive.
Champions League spherical dates
There’s an added wrinkle to this season’s event format. Given the break for the 2022 World Cup in November, the six group matchdays will probably be condensed into an eight-week span which can solely add to the diploma of issue. It may additionally lead to a couple extra shock outcomes.
- Group Stage: September 6-7 by means of November 1-2
- Spherical of 16: February 14-22 (Leg 1), March 7-15 (Leg 2)
- Quarter-finals: April 11-12 (Leg 1), April 18-19 (Leg 2)
- Semi-finals: Could 9-10 (Leg 1), Could 16-17 (Leg 2)
- Closing: June 10, 2023 (in Istanbul, Turkey)
MORE: Who will win the UEFA Champions League in 2022/23?
Champions League pairings and pots
The eight teams are labeled A by means of H, and they are going to be comprised of 4 groups chosen from every of the 4 totally different pots in the course of the group stage draw on August 25.
Pot 1 is made up of the winners of the 2012/22 Champions League (Actual Madrid) and Europa League (Eintracht Frankfurt), along with the league champions from the highest six nations in Europe per UEFA’s coefficient formulation rating. And since Actual Madrid had been additionally the champions of Spain, that nation’s Pot 1 spot is given to the champions from the following greatest nation (Ajax from the Netherlands).
Pots 2-4 are lots simpler to work out: They’re sorted based mostly on a staff’s rating within the UEFA membership coefficient checklist. The highest groups are in Pot 2 and the lowest-ranked groups occupy Pot 4.
The intention behind that is to make sure every group can function a mixture of powers, up-and-coming groups, and longer pictures. However based mostly on how the groups fell on this season’s pot construction — for instance, the mighty Liverpool discover themselves in Pot 2, and Inter Milan and Benfica are in Pot 3 — a traditional ‘Group of Loss of life’ is probably going unavoidable.
MORE: Full checklist of all-time UEFA Champions League winners
Pot 1 |
Pot 2 |
Pot 3 |
Pot 4 |
---|---|---|---|
Actual Madrid (Champions League) |
2-Liverpool |
19-Borussia Dortmund |
33-Rangers |
Eintracht Frankfurt (Europa League) |
5-Chelsea |
21-RB Salzburg |
34-Dinamo Zagreb |
Manchester Metropolis (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-Membership 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 |
As well as, UEFA pairs collectively sure golf equipment from the identical nation to make sure they do not play on the identical time. As such, when any of the under groups are drawn into teams A-D, their paired staff will mechanically be assigned to teams E-H:
- Actual Madrid and Barcelona
- Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig
- Manchester Metropolis 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
Champions League group tiebreaker guidelines
Each aim issues within the UEFA Champions League as a result of it may come into play within the tiebreakers ought to groups end even on factors on the finish of the group stage (three factors for a win, one for a draw, none for a loss).
If two or extra groups are tied within the group standings, there’s a sequence of UEFA Champions League group stage tiebreakers outlined within the official event laws:
- factors obtained in group matches performed amongst groups in query
- superior aim distinction from group matches performed amongst groups in query
- targets scored in group matches performed amongst groups in query
- superior aim distinction in all group matches
- targets scored in all group matches
- away targets scored in all group matches
- wins in all group matches
- away wins in all group matches
- disciplinary factors whole based mostly solely on yellow and crimson playing cards
- UEFA membership coefficient
One quirk to the tiebreaker guidelines: if there are three or extra groups deadlocked on factors and tiebreakers No. 1-3 assist to separate solely a kind of groups, then tiebreakers No. 1-3 are reapplied to any remaining groups which can be nonetheless tied earlier than shifting on to tiebreakers No. 4-10.