One week until the Champions League draw

Thursday 24 August 2023 15:00

Anticipation is building ahead of the UEFA Champions League group-stage draw in Monaco next Thursday (31 August).

Manchester United have returned to Europe's premier competition, after finishing third in the Premier League last term, and are set to be in Pot 2.

Among the top seeds we could face are La Liga winners Barcelona, who we knocked out of the Europa League earlier this year, and Sevilla, who ended our run in the tournament and went on to win the competition.

Notably, this is the last time the groups will be drawn, as the Champions League's format is changing for 2024/25.

Will top five qualify for the Champions League?

 Article

We look at how things are changing for Europe's premier competition next year.

The ceremony, on the final day of the month, is due to get under way at 18:00 CET (17:00 BST) with the opening round of fixtures scheduled for 19/20 September.

This will, of course, be Ten Hag's first time in the competition with United, but he had a fine record with former club Ajax in the Champions League, including almost going all the way to the final but for a dramatic Tottenham comeback in the 2019 semi-final.

Earlier on that run, the Amsterdammers won 4-1 at Real Madrid, the night before United's thrilling success against Paris Saint-Germain.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE DRAW?

There will be 32 teams involved and what is certain is that the Reds will face one of seven clubs from Pot 1, with Manchester City not an option as a fellow Premier League side.

POT 1 TEAMS

Manchester City (England)
Sevilla (Spain)
Barcelona (Spain)
Napoli (Italy)
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Benfica (Portugal)
Feyenoord (Netherlands)

The other seeding pots will not be confirmed until the morning of the draw and are dependent on which clubs progress from the ongoing qualifiers, with their coefficient rankings taken into consideration.

As things stands, the other clubs set to be in Pot 2 with United will, of course, be ineligible to face Ten Hag's men. This means we should not be meeting either of the two major Madrid sides, Real and Atletico, nor Bundesliga pair Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig.

PROVISIONAL POT 2 TEAMS

Real Madrid (Spain)
UNITED (ENGLAND)
Internazionale (Italy)
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Atletico Madrid (Spain)
RB Leipzig (Germany)
Porto (Portugal)
Arsenal (England)

How do United bounce back? Video

How do United bounce back?

Here, our panel analyses Tottenham away, the Women’s World Cup and Saturday’s massive game against Forest…

The situation regarding Pot 3 and Pot 4 is less clear, although the likes of Shakhtar Donetsk, RB Salzburg, AC Milan, Lazio and Red Star Belgrade appear likely to be in the higher pool.

Newcastle United (who cannot play the Reds), Real Sociedad, Celtic, Union Berlin and Lens have also already qualified for this stage.

In Tuesday's qualifying first legs, Rangers drew 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven, while FC Copenhagen and Royal Antwerp hold 1-0 leads over Rakow Czestochowa and AEK Athens respectively.  

On Wednesday night, Galatasaray beat Molde (3-2), Braga defeated Panathinaikos (2-1) and the tie between Maccabi Haifa and Young Boys ended goalless.

The road to Wembley and the 1 June final will then continue, with the top two sides from each group qualifying for the knockout stages. The third-placed teams will transfer to the play-offs for the UEFA Europa League.

GROUP-STAGE DATES

Matchday 1: 19/20 September
Matchday 2: 3/4 October
Matchday 3: 24/25 October
Matchday 4: 7/8 November
Matchday 5: 28/29 November
Matchday 6: 12/13 December

Recommended: