When is the 2023-24 Champions League group-stage draw? Date, teams, pots and format explained

Publish date: 2024-06-05

Follow live coverage of the Champions League group stage here.

The second legs of the Champions League qualifying play-offs were completed on Wednesday night so now it is time for clubs to find out their fates when the group-stage draw takes place on Thursday.

The final three teams to make it through were PSV Eindhoven, after hammering Rangers 7-3 on aggregate, Royal Antwerp and FC Copenhagen.

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So who is in which pot, how does the draw work and what is the best and worst-case scenario for the four Premier League clubs?

Here’s all you need to know…

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 expect…

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, PSV Eindhoven, Copenhagen.

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Pot 4: Newcastle United, Union Berlin, Lens, Real Sociedad, Celtic, Galatasaray, Young Boys, Antwerp.

What is the best/worst draw for the four Premier League clubs?

For an idea of the difficulty level of each team’s potential draw, we can use UEFA’s co-efficient rankings for each club. However, as mentioned above, two teams from the same country cannot be drawn together.

So using UEFA co-efficient rankings…

The most challenging draw for Manchester City would be:

Real Madrid (Pot 2), Shakhtar Donetsk (Pot 3), Young Boys (Pot 4).

Whereas the least challenging would be:

Porto (Pot 2), Red Star Belgrade (Pot 3), Lens (Pot 4).

The most challenging draw for Manchester United or Arsenal would be:

Bayern Munich (Pot 1), Shakhtar Donetsk (Pot 3), Real Sociedad (Pot 4)

Whereas the least challenging would be:

Feyenoord (Pot 1), Red Star Belgrade (Pot 3), Lens (Pot 4)

The most challenging draw for Newcastle would be:

Bayern Munich (Pot 1), Real Madrid (Pot 2), Shakhtar Donetsk (Pot 3)

Whereas the least challenging would be:

Feyenoord (Pot 1), Porto (Pot 2), Red Star Belgrade (Pot 3)

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.

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:

The dates for the knockout rounds are:

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:

(Top photo: Kristian Skeie – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

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