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The 2022-23 UEFA Champions League is just around the corner as the group stage is set to get underway in early September. Before that happens, they’ll need to complete the draw to determine who will end up in which group ahead of the competition.
The draw is set to take place on Thursday, August 25 from Istanbul, Turkey, which is where the final will be played on June 10, 2023. We’ll go over everything you need to know about the draw ahead of Thursday’s action.
Champions League 2022 draw
Date: Thursday, August 25
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
TV: None
Livestream: Paramount+, CBS Sports HQ
32 teams are placed into four different pots before they’re drawn into eight groups of four at the ceremony on Thursday. These groups will determine who will play against who in the upcoming group stage, as each team will play each of their three group opponents twice. The top two finishers from each group will advance to the knockout rounds, while the bottom two in each group will be sent home.
Real Madrid will look to defend their title after they won their 14th UCL trophy last season. They topped EPL side Liverpool with a 1-0 score — the second straight time they’ve taken down the Reds in a UCL final, with the previous meeting ending in a 3-1 win for Los Blancos in 2018.
The UCL field is riddled with powerhouses such as Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Juventus, and plenty more. Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for their first-ever UEFA Champions League, aside from the 1959-60 when it was still known as the European Cup. They were crowned champions of last year’s Europa League tournament and were awarded with an automatic berth into this year’s UCL tournament.
The group stage gets started on September 6 and wraps up the first weekend of November, while the knockout rounds will begin in February of next year.