Real Madrid, the reigning champions, and the rest of Europe’s elite clubs will learn the roadmap to continental glory when the 2022-23 Champions League group stage draw takes place in Istanbul on Thursday.
The final match of the most important continental championship at club level will take place in Istanbul, in particular, on 10 June next year at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, which is the scene of the historic match between Liverpool and Milan, where he won for the first time on penalties after falling behind with three goals in the first half in the 2005 season.
Istanbul was supposed to host the final in 2020 and again in 2021, but on both occasions, UEFA moved the match to Portugal due to restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Real Madrid will be in the first pot, along with the top six league champions who did not qualify by winning the 2021-2022 titles, namely Manchester City, Bayern, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Ajax. besides Eintracht Frankfurt, European Champion (Europa League).
As for Liverpool, they will be in the second pot, meaning the possibility of an extension of the date with Real Madrid in a final replay alongside Tottenham, Chelsea, Barcelona and Juventus.
Russian clubs will not participate due to a ban placed on them due to the invasion of Ukraine, but the latter will be represented by one club, Shakhtar Donetsk, after compatriot Dynamo Kyiv were eliminated from the preliminary rounds by Benfica » 0:5 in two matches.
The final places will be determined on Wednesday evening as Bodu Glimt aims to become the first Norwegian team to take part in the group stage in 15 years.
With the World Cup in Qatar taking place in winter, the group stage program will be condensed, with six stages taking place over two months and all matches taking place over nine weeks starting on September 6th.
On the other hand, the draw for the Europa League tournament will take place on Friday, which will feature clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Roma of Italy, followed immediately by the Conference League draw.