Champions League Group C schedule: key dates, where to watch, predictions and more with Real Madrid and Napoli | OneFootball

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After an exciting competition last season which saw Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City finally get their hands on Europe’s most prestigious club trophy, the 2023/24 Champions League group stages are nearing its beginning.

The year’s final will be played on June 1 at Wembley Stadium, London. It is a record-breaking eighth time that the final will be hosted in England’s capital city, and the first since Bayern Munich’s success in the 2012/13 season.

Last season saw some of the favourites bow out at unexpected stages of the competition. Barcelona were relegated to the Europa League after a poor group stage, while PSG, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid all fell victim to heavy defeats.

With that said, let’s take a closer look at this year’s Group C, which welcomes a mixture of both new and old into the competition.

Champions League 2023/24 – Which teams are in Group C?

The group stage draw for this year’s competition took place in Monaco on August 31. A few important rules to remember for the group stages are that a team cannot be drawn in the same group as another team from that same country, while teams from the same countries will play their fixtures on separate days.

In Group C, the first side drawn was Napoli, who last season celebrated winning their first league title in 33 years in Italy. That Italian champions have never won the Champions League, although their most memorable European night came in the 1989 UEFA Cup final, where they were victorious over Stuttgart with the help of Diego Maradona.

Next to be drawn was Real Madrid. The Spanish giants are comfortably the most successful side in the history of the competition, holding the record of 14 titles – twice as many as the second highest with AC Milan (7). After an extraordinary 4-0 defeat in last season’s semi-finals to eventual winners, Madrid will be looking to bounce back and win their 15th title this time round.

Here are the five most successful teams in the Champions League:

Madrid were followed by Portuguese side, SC Braga, who return to the competition after an 11-year absence, last making to the group stages in the 2012/13 season. Braga earned their place in the group stages after going through two preliminary qualifying rounds in August, which they progressed with a 100% record.

The final team to be named in Group C was Union Berlin. The German side have enjoyed a quite remarkable journey in recent years. Less than five years ago, they were playing in the second tier in Germany, having never made it to the top-flight in their history. Since being promoted to the Bundesliga ahead of the 2019/20 season, Union are now entering their third consecutive season in Europe and will make their first ever appearance in the Champions League.

Group A:

Champions League 2023/24 – Key dates in Group A

The first games of the Champions League take place on Tuesday 19 September, although Group C doesn’t get underway until the following day, on Wednesday 20 September. The opening fixtures see Real Madrid host Union Berlin, while Napoli will travel to Braga to take on the Portuguese side.

Listed below is every fixture in Group C:

How to watch the 2023/24 Champions League

The Champions League is always one of the most anticipated club competitions for fans all around the world, and this year will be no different. As in previous years, fans in the United Kingdom are able to watch the final of each European competition for free courtesy of TNT Sports (formerly BT Sports), however the prior stages require a paid subscription to an official broadcaster of the UEFA Champions League.

Watch every UCL match live by checking our Streaming and TV guide.

Champions League 2023/24 – Group A predictions

Real Madrid are the only side in the competitions history to have never been eliminated in the group stages despite some close scares in recent years, namely the 2020/21 season, where they left it until the final matchday to qualify to the next stage. Their European pedigree is simply unmatched and the big-money arrival of English superstar, Jude Bellingham has them as favourites to qualify from Group C.

Regarding Napoli, while not having much success historically in the Champions League, they made it to the quarter-finals last season before being beaten by league rivals AC Milan and would certainly be disappointed should they not proceed past the group stages this year. Key players Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are a handful for any defence to cope with and their partnership was a large factor in Napoli’s league success last season, with a combined 36 league goals and 14 assists.

After an impressive league campaign last season, Braga beat league rivals Sporting CP to third place which gave them a place in the qualifying stages. The squad is full of experience, including former Premier League players, Joao Moutinho and Jose Fonte, who will look to pull off a shock by progressing to the knockout stages, however a third-place finish leaving them in the Europa League could still prove to be a success for an exciting Braga side.

For Union Berlin, they find themselves in a similar position to that of Braga, where a top two finish appears unlikely only due to the pure quality of the sides they are up against, rather than not being strong enough themselves. New signings Robin Gosens and Leonardo Bonucci join the club having each played in Champions League finals themselves, providing a huge level of maturity to the squad as they go on their first Champions League journey together.