Are you ready for the new Champions League?

At last the long awaited day has come. Today, the draw for the new season on the Champions League will take place at 19pm in Monaco. The Europe's best clubs will again find their new group opponents and will battle between each other unit December, after which the knockout phase will begin. As always, there are the regular participants (Real, City, Bayern, PSG, Barcelona, Dortmund), but there are some unlikely names, who either finished high in the domestic championship (Newcastle) or beaten famous opponents in the qualifications (Braga) and will participate. Some big names, like Liverpool and Chelsea are missing since they had lousy seasons, while teams like Marseille bottled it, and lost in qualifications from lesser opponents.

This year's participants are divided into four pots. Pot 1 will consist of the holders, the UEFA Europa League winners and six domestic champions. Pots 2 to 4 will be determined by the club coefficient rankings. No team can play a side from their own association. Pairings and any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw. That basically means that teams from one pot cannot be in the same group after the draw, but also teams from the same country won't meet each other in the group phase. So whoever expected for example a Manchester derby in the Champions League - it won't happen.

Pot 1

Manchester City (ENG) – pairing A

Sevilla FC (ESP) – B

FC Barcelona (ESP) – C

SSC Napoli (ITA) – D

FC Bayern München (GER) – E

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) – F

SL Benfica (POR) – G

Feyenoord (NED) – H

Pot 2

Real Madrid CF (ESP) – C

Manchester United (ENG) – A

FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) – I

Borussia Dortmund (GER) – E

Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) – B

RB Leipzig (GER) – J

FC Porto (POR) – G

Arsenal FC (ENG) – K

Pot 3

FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)

FC Salzburg (AUT)

AC Milan (ITA) – I

SC Braga (POR)

PSV Eindhoven (NED) – H

S.S. Lazio (ITA) – D

FK Crvena zvezda (SRB)

F.C. Copenhagen (DEN)

Pot 4

BSC Young Boys (SUI)

Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP)

Galatasaray A.Ş. (TUR)

Celtic FC (SCO)

Newcastle United FC (ENG) – K

1. FC Union Berlin (GER) – J

Royal Antwerp FC (BEL)

RC Lens (FRA) – F

After the draw, games will be played in group stages during these days:

Matchday 1: 19/20 September 2023

Matchday 2: 3/4 October 2023

Matchday 3: 24/25 October 2023

Matchday 4: 7/8 November 2023

Matchday 5: 28/29 November 2023

Matchday 6: 12/13 December 2023

After the last matches, new draw will be made on December 18th, where knockout Round of 16 pairs will be announced. Dates of knockout phase games are:

Round of 16: 13/14/20/21 February & 5/6/12/13 March 2024

Quarter-finals: 9/10 & 16/17 April 2024

Semi-finals: 30 April/1 May & 7/8 May 2024

Final: 1 June 2024 (Wembley Stadium London)