Champions League group stages 2023/24: fixtures, dates, predictions and more | OneFootball

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The Champions League is always one of the most anticipated club competitions for fans around the world, and this year will be no different.

How to watch the 2023/24 Champions League

As in previous years, fans in the United Kingdom can 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.

Here is where you can watch the 2023/24 Champions League in every competing country:

Champions League 2023/24 - Group stages schedule

After last year's group stages were slightly altered to work around the World Cup 2022 schedule, the dates this year are back to their more traditional ways. The first round of fixtures begins on Tuesday, 19 September, and runs to Wednesday, 13 December.

Group A this year features two multiple-time European champions, in six-time winners Bayern Munich and three-time winners Manchester United. They are joined by two threatening sides in Turkish champions Galatasaray, and champions of Denmark, FC Copenhagen.

The German side go into the group as strong favourites to proceed to the knockout stages, having not lost a single group game in the competition since the 2017/18 season.

Group B

Premier League side Arsenal return to the Champions League for the first time in six seasons, having had a strong league campaign under Mikel Arteta last season.

They are joined by last season's Europa League winners, Sevilla, and their opponents from last season's Europa League group stages. French side RC Lens completed the group, making it their first appearance in the competition in over twenty years.

Group C

Napoli enter Group C on the back of winning their first league title in 33 years last season and will look to battle it out with 14-time European champions, Real Madrid for the top spot.

Portuguese side Braga finished third in their domestic campaign last season, making it their first appearance in the Champions League in over a decade, while German side Union Berlin will be appearing in the competition for the first time in the club's history.

Group D

Champions of Portugal, Benfica, are joined in Group D by last season's Champions League finalists Inter Milan, who will hope to replicate last season's run once again.

Austrian champions RB Salzburg will look to pull off an upset with a talented young squad, while Spanish side Real Sociedad are competing in the competition for the first time in a decade, where they failed to make it through to the knockout stages.

Group E

Dutch champions Feyenoord enter Group E where all four sides will fancy their chances of progressing. Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid side have fallen just short of lifting the trophy twice over the past decade.

Maurizio Sarri has an exciting Lazio side ready to compete amongst Europe's elite, while Brendan Rodgers is back for his second spell at Scottish side Celtic, who perhaps go into Group E as the underdogs.

Group F

Group F is undoubtedly the "group of death" in this year's competition.

Newcastle United will be eager to make their first Champions League campaign in over 20 years one to remember, with French champions Paris Saint-Germain looking to finally get their hands on the famous trophy after a busy summer.

AC Milan will look to go one further than they could manage last season, where they were beaten by local rivals Inter in the semi-finals, while Dortmund have gone through somewhat of a transition since last season, where they were beaten by Chelsea in the round-of-16.

Group G

After finally winning the competition for the first time last season, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side will fancy themselves to lift the title in consecutive seasons. They are faced with last season's round-of-16 opponents, RB Leipzig, who they comfortably beat 8-1 on aggregate over the two legs.

Joining them are fierce Serbian side and winners of the 1991 tournament, Crvena Zvezda, also known as Red Star Belgrade, as well as Swiss side Young Boys who look to cause an upset in Group G.

Group H

After a successful title-winning campaign last season, Barcelona will be looking to progress through the group stages for the first time in three years, after back-to-back eliminations to the Europa League.

Portuguese side Porto, who famously won the competition in 2004, will hope to compete with Barcelona at the top of the group ahead of Ukranian rivals Shakhtar Donestk.

After winning their first league title in 66 years, Royal Antwerp enter the competition hoping to pull off a huge shock and proceed to the next stages. Their last appearance in the competition was in the 1957/58 season.