What is the 2022-23 Champions League group of death?
The draw in Istanbul on Thursday has thrown up some tasty group stage fixtures, but the group to watch is Group C.
The Champions League group stage draw has produced an intriguing group of death in this year’s edition of the competition.
The draw in Istanbul on Thursday has thrown up some tasty group stage fixtures, but the group to watch is Group C.
Bayern Munich were pulled out first from Pot 1. FC Barcelona then followed and shortly after Inter came out to make it the group of death. The fourth team to join Group C was Czech side Viktoria Plzeň.
Bayern and Barcelona have faced each other on numerous occasions recently. The Spanish side will unfortunately still remember the 8-2 quarter-final thrashing against their German counterparts in August 2020.
In last year’s edition of the Champions League, Bayern beat the Camp Nou outfit 3-0 in both of their group games, before Barcelona eventually dropped into the Europa League.
Inter will fancy their chances of beating Bayern and Barça to make it through to the knockout stages next February.
Lewandowski returns
Robert Lewandowski will return to face his former side after joining the Blaugrana from Bayern this summer.
The Polish striker made it clear that he wanted to leave the German club and move to LaLiga, where he has hit the ground running under Xavi Hernández.
Will the Bayern fans give him a warm reception at the Allianz Arena? It remains to be seen, but the Bayern defence will have their work cut out trying to keep him quiet in the two Group C games over the coming weeks.
2022-23 Champions League group stage draw
Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers
Group B: Porto, Atlético Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club 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
When does the Champions League 2022-23 group stage start and end?
The Champions League 2022-23 group stage begins with matches on Tuesday 6 September and Wednesday 7 September.
There will be a total of six matchdays in the group stage, running until Tuesday 1 November and Wednesday 2 November.
All six group matchdays will finish before the World Cup break with the knockout rounds starting in February 2023.