AC Milan will participate in the Champions League group stage for the second straight season, and today they will find out their opponents.
After last night’s remaining qualifiers were completed, the four pots have been confirmed for the 2022-23 edition of the Champions League group stage draw, which will take place at 18:00 CET today in Istanbul.
Pot 1
Real Madrid (ESP, Champions League holders)
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER, Europa League holders)
Manchester City (ENG)
AC Milan (ITA)
Bayern München (GER)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Porto (POR)
Ajax (NED)
Pot 2
Liverpool (ENG)
Chelsea (ENG)
Barcelona (ESP)
Juventus (ITA)
Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Sevilla (ESP)
Leipzig (GER)
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Pot 3
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Salzburg (AUT)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Inter (ITA)
Napoli (ITA)
Benfica (POR)
Sporting CP (POR)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Pot 4
Rangers (SCO)
Dinamo (CRO)
Marseille (FRA)
Copenhagen (DEN)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Celtic (SCO)
Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
Maccabi Haifa (ISR)
As the UEFA website confirms, there will be some sorting within the draw to ensure that paired clubs from the same country play on separate days.
The eight groups will be distinguished by colour: Groups A to D will be red and Groups E to H will be blue. As an example, when a paired club is drawn in one of the red groups (A, B, C or D), the other paired club – once it has been drawn – will automatically be assigned to one of the four blue groups (E, F, G or H).
The pairings
A Real Madrid & Barcelona
B Frankfurt & Leipzig
C Man City & Liverpool
D Milan & Napoli
E Bayern & Dortmund
F Paris & Marseille
G Porto & Benfica
H Chelsea & Tottenham
I Juventus & Inter
J Atlético de Madrid & Sevilla
K Rangers & Celtic
The dates
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
Round of 16 draw: 7 November
The good news for Milan is that they can’t get drawn with Napoli or Inter from Pot 3, Inter is the key to a real ‘group of death’ draw. Dortmund are the other scary team in there, though they look in disarray so far this season.
Fingers crossed to avoid an English team in Pot 2 and Marseille and the Scots from Po4.
@R unless you don’t want play the competition but there is no easy route every team earned its qualification deservedly just relax and enjoy MILAN is threat to any one
Of course there is no easy routes as such but there are easier ones so i tend to agree with R.
– Easier group, will most likely gain us more cash and better chances of progression. Wins equals more money.
– New players might have a bit more time to settle in with the team and adjust to new tactics.
-We will have a packed program before the world cup and easier opponents in the cl might give us some room to have a bit more rotation than we can allow ourselves against the major teams which could then benefit us in serie a as well.
-Some of the big teams could have left the tournament before the knockout phase and in the event we do qualify there should still be some big games waiting for us in the spring.
If we end up in a group of death it would put more pressure on the squad and even though i would like to see us to play all the big teams then the most important thing in my view is always wining and for that matter the clubs financial health,
We are champions as well we feel no team in Europe not even real Madrid, we are are thread in any group they place us. Forza milan.