Champions League qualification update – 26 clubs already sorted and now 6 from these 12 | OneFootball

The Champions League jigsaw is getting ever closer to completion.

In total, there will be 32 clubs in the pots when the group stage is drawn (see details below) at the end of August.

Now we are nine days away from that draw, all but half a dozen needing to be confirmed.

These are the 26 Champion League group stage confirmed contenders.

Pot 1

Sevilla (Europa League holders) Manchester City (1st in the Premier League) Barcelona (1st in La Liga) Napoli (1st in Serie A) Bayern Munich (1st in the Bundesliga) Paris Saint-Germain (1st in Ligue 1) Benfica (1st in Portuguese Primeira Liga)

Pot 1 or 2

Inter Milan (2nd/3rd/4th in Serie A)

Pot 1 or 3

Feyenoord (1st in Eredivisie)

Pot 2

Real Madrid (2nd in La Liga) Manchester United (3rd in the Premier League) Borussia Dortmund (2nd in the Bundesliga) Atletico Madrid (3rd in La Liga) RB Leipzig (3rd in the Bundesliga) Porto (2nd in Portuguese Primeira Liga) Arsenal (2nd in the Premier League)

Pot 2 or 3

Shakhtar Donetsk (1st in the Ukrainian Premier League)

Pot 3

Red Bull Salzburg (1st in the Austrian Bundesliga) AC Milan (3rd/4th in Serie A) Lazio (2nd/3rd in Serie A) Red Star Belgrade (1st in Serbian SuperLiga)

Pot 3 or 4

Real Sociedad (4th in La Liga) Celtic (1st in Scottish Premiership) Newcastle United (4th in the Premier League) TBC (Winner of playoffs/qualifiers) TBC (Winner of playoffs/qualifiers) TBC (Winner of playoffs/qualifiers) TBC (Winner of playoffs/qualifiers) TBC (Winner of playoffs/qualifiers) TBC (Winner of playoffs/qualifiers)

Pot 4

Union Berlin (4th in the Bundesliga) Lens (2nd in Ligue 1)

Qualifying rounds

We have now reached the final play-off round to sort the last six Champions League group competitors.

A total of 12 teams in this play-off round with the six winners of these knockout ties going straight into the group stage of the main competition.

The first legs will be played on 22–23 August and the second legs will be played on 29–30 August 2023, three of the first legs playing tonight.

Maccabi Haifa (Israel) v Young Boys (Switzerland) Playing 23 Aug and 29 Aug

Antwerp (Belgium) v AEK Athens (Greece) Playing 22 Aug and 30 Aug

Rakow Czestochowa (Poland) v Copenhagen (Denmark) Playing 22 Aug and 30 Aug

Molde (Norway) Galatasaray (Turkey) Playing 23 Aug and 29 Aug

Rangers (Scotland v PSV Eindhoven (Holland) Playing 22 Aug and 30 Aug

Braga (Portugal) v Panathinaikos (Greece) Playing 23 Aug and 29 Aug

The Champions League Group Stage will be drawn…

Newcastle United fans will discover our first set of Champions League opponents for next season when the draw is made on Thursday 31 August (following the final round of play-off ties on 29 and 30 August).

The draw will see eight sides seeded into four different pots and each group will be drawn to contain one side from pots one, two, three and four. Pot one contains domestic title winners from various leagues across Europe and will also include the sides crowned champions of this season’s Champions League and Europa League.

The Champions League Group Stage matches will begin…

The first round of group stage matches will take place on 19 and 20 September 2023.

The final round of group matches will be played on 12 and 13 December.

Final 32 club Champions League…

The 2023/24 Champions League will be the last time that the competition is played in a 32 club format.

From the 2024/25 season onwards, the Champions League will increase to accommodate 36 teams.

Instead of six group games, home and away against three different clubs, teams will play eight matches in the group phase, against eight different opponents.