By Sedara Philip
The Champions League group-stage draw will take place on today, 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.
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.
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:
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.
Pot 4: Young Boys, Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, CELTIC, NEWCASTLE UNITED, Union Berlin, Royal Antwerp, RC Lens
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
