Key points about the Champions League draw

Bayern Munich and Spain’s Barcelona will play in Quartet C in the 2022/23 Champions League group stage.

Also in Group C were the Italian “Inter” and the Czech «Victoria»  (Pilsen). The draw for the group stage of the Champions League took place on August 25 in Istanbul.

Group stage matches, which have been shortened to eight weeks due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will take place on September 6-7, September 13-14, October 4-5, October 11-12, October 25-26 and November 1-2. The Champions League final will take place on June 10, 2023 at Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium.

The rest of the groups are as follows:

Group A – Ajax (Netherlands), Liverpool (England), Napoli (Italy), Rangers (Scotland);

Group B – Porto (Portugal), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Club Brugge (Belgium);

Group D – Eintracht (Frankfurt, Germany), Tottenham (England), Sporting CP (Portugal), Marseille (France);

Group E – AC Milan (Italy), Chelsea (England), Salzburg (Austria), Dynamo (Zagreb, Croatia);

Group F – Real Madrid (Spain), Leipzig (Germany), Shakhtar (Ukraine), Celtic (Scotland);

Group G – Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Borussia (Dortmund, Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark);

Group H – Paris Saint-Germain (France), Juventus (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Maccabi (Haifa, Israel).

The top two teams from each group will advance to the 1/8 finals of the playoffs. The teams that take third place will continue their performance in the Europa League, where they will compete for tickets to the 1/8 finals of the tournament with the teams that came second in their groups.

If you are interested in betting and want to predict the Champions League winner, then visit Lottoland South Africa. You will see a full overview of bookmaker, which provides a reliable betting process while guaranteeing the payout of all winning bets.

Exes are coming back

In addition, the draw allowed several stars to play against their former clubs. Holland against Borussia Dortmund, Di Maria against PSG, but the most interesting, Lewandowski against Bayern. It will be fascinating to see how German fans will react to the striker who was so eager to leave Germany this summer. Former Pole teammate Thomas Müller has already reacted: «Mr. Levangolski, see you soon in Munich».

A few facts in short

• Shakhtar and Real Madrid are in the same Champions League group for the third year in a row. Last season, Real Madrid won both times, and in the 2020/2021 season, Shakhtar won both times;
• at the draw, they also awarded the prize to the best player of the last season in the Champions League. Real Madrid’s striker Karim Benzema won the award and Carlo Ancelotti was recognized as the best coach of the season;
• this time the matches of the group stage of the Champions League will not end in December, but on November 2. The reason for this is the 2022 World Cup, which starts in Qatar on November 20.

Top Favorites

According to experts, Manchester City has the best chance of winning the Champions League at odds of 3.70, which is about 26% of the probability.

The main competition for the top club from Manchester will be the stars of Paris and Liverpool – a quote of 5.50 for the victory of PSG and 6.00 for the success of Liverpool (17% and 16% probability, respectively).

The five favorites also include Bayern Munich (6.70) and current trophy holder Real Madrid (8.00).

Among the teams that are not in the top 5 European Championships, Ajax Amsterdam has the best chances – odds of 50.00.

If Shakhtar Donetsk wins, the winning quote will be 400.00.

The final will be hosted by the Ataturk Olympic Stadium, which is the home of the Turkish national team. The Istanbul Arena had already hosted the Champions League final in 2005, which gained legendary status and became known as the Istanbul miracle: then Liverpool won the victory on penalties, having conceded three unanswered goals from Milan in the first half.