At 00:00 on August 26, UEFA held a draw ceremony for the 2022-2023 Champions League group stage in Istanbul, Turkey, and Turkish football stars Altentop and Manchester City star Yaya Toure participated in the drawing ceremony as draw guests. A total of 32 teams will participate in the new season's Champions League group stage, of which 26 places are from the top few of last season's national leagues and the Europa League winner (Frankfurt), while the remaining 6 teams (Benfica, Pilsen Victory, Maccabi Haifa, Dynamo Zagreb, Rangers, Copenhagen) have made their way to the group stage through the Champions League play-offs and qualifications. UEFA divides 32 teams into 4 gears, as follows:
First-tier teams: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt.
Second squad: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Tottenham Hotspur, Leipzig.
Third-tier teams: Borussia Dortmund, Red Bull Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Benfica, Sporting Portugal, Bayer Leverkusen.
Fourth pot teams: Marseille, Brugge, Celtic, Pilsen Victory, Maccabi Haifa, Dinamo Zagreb, Rangers, Copenhagen.
The Champions League group stage is divided into 8 groups of 4 teams in each group, including 1 team from the first to the fourth pot, in addition, the principle of avoidance of the same league team is followed when drawing lots. Through the draw, the 8 groups of teams are grouped as follows.
Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers.
This group of points to watch: last season's Champions League runner-up Liverpool drew a winning lottery, although Ajax is a seeded team, but the summer window blood loss is serious, the strength is seriously damaged compared to last season, but the third gear of Napoli may cause a little trouble for Liverpool, and don't forget last season's Europa League runner-up wanderer.
Qualifying predictions for this group: Liverpool, Napoli.
Group B: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Brugge.
Highlights of this group: The strength of the second-pot team Atletico is significantly stronger than the first-gear team Porto, resulting in Porto having to compete with the third-pot team Bayer Leverkusen for a group qualifying place.
Predictions for this group: Atletico, Porto.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Pilsen win.
Highlights of this group: Bayern, Barca, Inter, C is the biggest super death group in this season's Champions League, and even the last 10 years of the Champions League, and has also become the group with the most attention in the group stage. Watch point one: Bayern and Barca in the same group last season, Bayern beat Barca twice, can the gradually recovering Barca be humiliated under the leadership of Xavi? Highlight 2: What kind of performance will Levan face his old club in the Champions League group stage in his first season from Bayern to Barca? Watch point three: Will Bayern help Inter to squeeze Barca?
This group of qualifying predictions: Bayern, Barca, and these two teams are in the same group, for Inter, basically can announce the end of this season's Champions League in advance, the best result is to compete for a group third, to participate in the Europa League.
Group D: Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sport of Portugal, Marseille.
What to watch in this group: Group D may be the weakest group in the Champions League this season, Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspur, Portugal Sports are relatively weak teams in each class, which also allows the fourth pot team Marseille to see the possibility of qualifying from the group. It is predicted that this group may have a chaotic situation and become a group of alternative deaths.
Qualifying predictions for this group: Tottenham Hotspur, Portugal Sport.
Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea, Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb.
This group of points to see: Relatively speaking, this group is relatively flat, AC Milan and Chelsea, regardless of team fame, past records or team strength, are significantly stronger than the other two opponents, as long as they play normally, qualifying is not a problem, but Milan still have to be careful of Red Bull.
Qualifying predictions for this group: Chelsea, AC Milan.
Group F: Real Madrid, Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic.
What to watch in this group: Real Madrid and miners have been in the same group for three consecutive seasons, but it is a pity that Inter is missing, and being in this relatively relaxed group is not a problem for Real Madrid. Leipzig are also expected to qualify second in the group, with the Miners battling the Celtics for a Europa League play-off qualification.
Predictions for this group: Real Madrid, Leipzig.
Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Copenhagen.
What to watch in this group: the reunion of the old masters will become the theme of this season's Champions League, Haaland will be reunited in the Champions League in the first season of his transfer to Dortmund, can Haaland break through the old main door? In addition, Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund will be fiercely contested for another qualifying place, and Copenhagen has basically secured the bottom of the group.
Qualifying predictions for this group: Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund.
Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi, Haifa.
What to watch: Ligue 1 supremacist Paris Saint-Germain and former Serie A supremacist Juventus will compete for the first place in the group, the most interesting player is Argentine winger Di Maria. The 34-year-old Di Maria was still a member of Paris Saint-Germain last season, but after the contract expired, Paris did not renew his contract, and finally Di Maria chose to join Juventus, not expecting to meet the old owner in the Champions League in the first season. How will Di Maria perform in the two-legged match against Paris? In addition, Benfica's strength cannot be underestimated, and both Paris and Juventus have the possibility of overturning the ship in the gutter.
Predictions for this group of qualifying teams: Paris, Juventus.
The Champions League group stage is divided into six rounds of double rounds, with each group of four teams playing home and away two legs, the first round will be held on September 7 and September 8, the group stage will be completed on November 3, and the quarter-final draw will be held on November 8. This season's Champions League final will be held in Istanbul on 11 June 2023.
Note: The image is from the Internet.