Who gets who? The 2022/23 Champions League group stage pots

The pots for the Champions League draw to be held on Thursday in Istanbul (6 pm local time / 12 noon ET) are almost complete with only the last three teams from the qualifying rounds to be confirmed, all of whom will go into Pot 4. Benfica were the latest team to be added, dropping into Pot 3, and Wednesday night will wrap up any doubts for the remaining places.

Know your Champions League pots

Real Madrid surprised many, although we should be used to it by now, as they were crowned Champions of Europe for a 14th time, and are the only Spanish team taking a seat in Pot 1, something we’ve not often seen in recent decades. That place would have been there for being reigning champions but had they lost the final to Liverpool, they’d also have taken a place in the top pot due to their domestic league triumph. They are joined by the other highest-ranked champions Manchester City (England), AC Milan (Italy), Bayern Munich (Germany), PSG (France), Porto (Portugal) and Ajax (The Netherlands), as well as Eintracht Frankfurt who won the Europa League.

None of these teams can, therefore, face Los Blancos in the group stage and nor can Spanish rivals Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Sevilla. There are, as usual, some serious names in Pot 2 with the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Juventus, RB Leipzig and Tottenham all a serious threat.

With regard to Pot 3, the Italian sides of Inter and Napoli, along with Borussia Dortmund, could provide a shock or two, while Shakhtar, Salzburg, Leverkusen, Sporting Clube and Benfica will not see themselves as just there to make up the numbers.

Finally, to the fourth set of teams, where Marseille, who finished second behind PSG last season in Ligue 1, would be best avoided. Regular names including Brugge, Celtic, Red Star and Viktoria Plzen will also be part of this pot, and they will be joined by the winners of the qualifiers between: Dinamo Zagreb-Bodo Glimt, PSV-Rangers (Europa League finalists, remember) and Trabzonspor-Copenhagen.

How the Champions League draw works

As UEFA explains, the draw features 32 teams: 26 teams given direct entry to the group stage and the six winners of the play-off ties. These teams will be split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 will consist of the holders, the UEFA Europa League winners and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations who did not qualify via one of the 2021/22 titles; Pots 2 to 4 will be determined by the club coefficient rankings.

In the case of associations with two representatives, clubs will be paired in order to split their matches between Tuesdays and Wednesdays. In the case of associations with four representatives, two pairings will be made. These pairings are to be based on TV audiences.

No team can play a side from their own association. Any other restrictions will be announced ahead of the draw, which you’ll be able to follow live right here on AS USA.

The 2022/23 Champions League pots

With the table below, you can now start to devise your Champions League group of death as well as, of course, your dream group for your team.