2022/23 Champions League: Full Schedule and Important Dates

The 2022/23 Champions League got underway with the preliminary rounds, starting on 21 June up to the play-offs which were concluded this week.

Six teams qualified for the group stage via the qualification route - Viktoria Plzen, Maccabi Haifa, Copenhagen, Rangers, Benfica, and Dinamo Zagreb along with 26 teams who automatically qualified due to their final position in their respective domestic leagues. Among that group are 15 clubs who ended last season as champions of their domestic league.

The clubs who qualified automatically are Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Inter Milan, Juventus, AC Milan, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, Olympique Marseille, PSG, Porto, Sporting Clube, Ajax, Salzburg, Celtic, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Club Brugge.

Champions League Group Stage draw:

The draw for the Group Stage of the Champions League was completed on Thursday evening in Istanbul, with the following Groups being drawn.

Champions League Groups:

Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers

Group B: Porto, At. Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Brugge

Group C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter, Viktoria Plzen

Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Spurs, Sporting CP, Marseille

Group E: Milan, Chelsea, Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb

Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar, Celtic

Group G: Man City, Sevilla, Dortmund, Copenhagen

Group H: PSG, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Hafia

2022/23 Champions League group stage dates:

The 2022/23 Champions League group stage begins with the Matchday 1 fixtures being played over two days - Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 September 2022. The group stage will conclude earlier on this occasion, on Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 November 2022, in time to accommodate the World Cup in Qatar which gets underway later that month.

Champions League group stage:

Matchday 1: 6/7 September

Matchday 2: 13/14 September

Matchday 3: 4/5 October

Matchday 4: 11/12 October

Matchday 5: 25/26 October

Matchday 6: 1/2 November

The Round of 16 draw will take place on Monday 7 November

Round of 16:

The winners and runners-up from the eight groups will advance to the Round of 16 with the group winners seeded above the runners-up. This stage involves two-legged ties which will be played on 14/15/21/22 February and 7/8/14/15 March 2023. The winners from each tie will go through to the quarter finals. It's important to note here that from last year, away goals no longer count in the knockout rounds - a tie that ends level after the home and away matches have been played will go to extra-time - 15 minutes per half. At the end of that, if the score is still level, the game will be resolved by a penalty shootout.

The remaining teams will go into one last draw to determine who meets who in the quarter finals, how the semi-finals will be configured and also which team will be the 'home team' in the final.

The draw for the quarter finals and semi-finals will be held on Friday 17 March 2023

Quarter finals:

First leg: 11 and 12 April 2023

Second leg: 18 and 19 April 2023

Semi-finals:

First leg: 9 and 10 May 2023

Second leg: 16 and 17 May 2023

Final: 10 June 2023

The 2022/23 Champions League final will be played at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on Saturday 10 June 2023.

For 2022/23 Champions League news, follow Sportz Point.