When is the UEFA Champions League group stage draw?

In partnership with

Manchester City F.C.

·29 August 2023

When is the UEFA Champions League group stage draw?

Everything you need to know ahead of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League group stage draw...

Manchester City enter the competition as champions of Europe for the first time in our history following our 1-0 triumph over Inter in June.

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And we’ll discover who we face in the initial stage of our Champions League defence on Thursday 31 August.

We will have a special Champions League Matchday Live show to cover the draw, plus you can keep across mancity.com and the official Man City app to discover our group stage opponents but, before the draw takes place, you can find all the important information you need ahead of our latest European campaign.

When and Where?

The Champions League group stage draw takes place on Thursday 31 August at to the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, France.

The ceremony is set to get under way at 17:00 (UK).

It will also see the 2022/23 Men's Player of the Year, Women's Player of the Year, Men's Coach of the Year and Women's Coach of the Year awards, presented by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.

Which Pot are City in?

As the reigning champions, Pep Guardiola’s men are in Pot 1, the only pot which has been confirmed due to it also including the Europa League holders and six domestic champions.

With City already qualifying as winners despite also finishing top of the Premier League last season, Dutch champions Feyenoord are included among the top seeds due to the Eredivisie having the next highest coefficient ranking.

The 26 automatic qualifiers are below:

Pot 1:Manchester City (Champions League holders)Sevilla (Europa League holders)Barcelona (ESP)Bayern Munich (GER)Napoli (ITA)Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)Benfica (POR)Feyenoord (NED)

Pot 2:Real Madrid (SPA)Manchester United (ENG)Inter (ITA)Borussia Dortmund (GER)Arsenal (ENG)Atletico Madrid (SPA)RB Leipzig (GER)Porto (POR)

Pot 3:Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)RB Salzburg (AUT)AC Milan (ITA)Lazio (ITA)Red Star Belgrade (SRB)+ 1 winner from League path

Pot 3 or 4:Real Sociedad (SPA)Celtic (SCO)+ 2 winners from Champions path+ 1 winner from League path

Pot 4:Newcastle United (ENG)Union Berlin (GER)RC Lens (FRA)+ 2 winners from Champions path

Champions path matches to be decided:Young Boys v Maccabi Haifa (Agg: 0-0)AEK Athens v Antwerp (Agg: 0-1)FC Copenhagen v Raków Częstochowa (Agg: 1-0)Galatasaray v Molde (Agg: 3-2)

League path games to be decided:PSV v Rangers (Agg 2-2)Panathinaikos v Braga (Agg:1-2)

(Above play-offs played over 29/30 August)

Group Stage Rules

The 26 automatic qualifiers and six play-off winners will be split into four seeding pots.

Pots 1 & 2 are already confirmed but, with teams still competing for the six available play-off spots, Pots 3 to 4 will be determined by the club coefficient rankings on the morning of the draw.

City cannot be drawn against another side from Pot 1 or another English team in the group stage. Pairings and any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw.