Champions League group stage 2023/24
Man Utd is in the same group as Bayern Munich, while PSG will face Dortmund, Milan, and Newcastle in the 2023-2024 Champions League, after the draw ceremony on August 31.
Returning to the Champions League after a season of absence, Man Utd will immediately face champion contender Bayern Munich. When the draw put “The Red Devils” in Group A, the club’s representative in Monte Carlo forced a smile. After that, the leaders of Copenhagen and Galatasaray also laughed when they saw their teams join this group.
The last time Bayern met Man Utd in an official match was in the 2014 Champions League quarterfinals, when “The Gray Shark” won 4-2 overall, including a brilliant volley from Arjen Robben. In this reunion, Man Utd will face two players they wanted to sign in the summer of 2023 – defender Kim Min-jae and striker Harry Kane.
However, Group A is still not as deadly as the parity between teams in Group F comprising PSG, Dortmund, Milan, and Newcastle. Newcastle returns to the Champions League for the first time in 20 years, immediately facing difficult opponents from the other top 5 European leagues. Midfielder Sandro Tonali will reunite with his former club Milan, just weeks after he moved to Newcastle. Midfielder Ousmane Dembele will also meet the club that once sold him for a record fee – Dortmund.
Group D also promises to be unpredictable, with runner-up Inter facing Benfica, Salzburg and Sociedad. Meanwhile, Arsenal returns to the Champions League in Group B, which is not too easy either, with reigning Europa League champions Sevilla, PSV, and Lens. The French club finished second in Ligue 1 last season and was only one point behind PSG, but this season they have not won any games yet.
The other strong teams are all in easy groups, such as Real Madrid, Man City, and Barca. The most expensive defender in history, Josko Gvardiol, will reunite with his former club Leipzig. As for Barca, they expect to advance from the group stage for the first time since Lionel Messi’s departure, as they can be considered to be in the easiest group with Porto, Shakhtar, and Antwerp.
The ceremony began with a performance by saxophonist Asya Fateyeva and pianist Bruce Liu, based on the Champions League anthem. The two familiar MCs invited by UEFA were Pedro Pinto and Reshmin Chowdhury. Man City’s Football Director Txiki Begiristain also appeared at the ceremony and gave a speech, even though the transfer window is entering its final day.
As usual, UEFA Deputy General Secretary Giorgio Marchetti explained the draw procedure. The 2023-2024 Champions League group stage consists of 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four teams each. Teams from the same pot or association will not be drawn in the same group. Teams from the same city will not play home matches on the same day.
The organizers started the draw from pot 1, comprising Man City, Barca, Sevilla, Bayern, PSG, Napoli, Benfica and Feyenoord. The teams drawn from this pot will fall into the groups in order from A to H.
After that, the organizers moved on to pot 2, comprising Real Madrid, Man Utd, Inter Milan, Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Leipzig, Porto and Arsenal. Each team drawn will have a few options to fall into certain groups, and a UEFA representative will pick additional balls from those groups to determine the team’s group.
A similar process takes place in Pot 3 comprising Shakhtar Donetsk, Salzburg, AC Milan, Braga, Lazio, Red Star Belgrade, Copenhagen, PSV, and Pot 4 comprising Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, Celtic, Newcastle, Union Berlin, Lens, Young Boys, Antwerp.
Also at the ceremony, UEFA announced the Men’s Player of the Year, Women’s Player of the Year, Men’s Coach of the Year, Women’s Coach of the Year, and a UEFA President’s Award given to striker Miroslav Klose.
The group stage matches take place from September 19 to December 13, 2023. On December 18, UEFA will make the draw for the Round of 16 pairs. Don’t forget to visit Live Football Schedule to update the latest Champions League matches, fixtures, and results, as well as enjoy other live soccer game today!
