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2022/23 UCL draw: Check out full pairings as Bayern face Barca, PSG play Juventus

By Vincent Ashitey
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The draw for the group stage for the 2022/23 Champions League has been revealed with some mouth-watering ties.

The event came off on Thursday, August 25, in Istanbul.

Holders Real Madrid have been paired in a Group with RB Leipzig while Barcelona will play Bayern Munich in a match that would be centered around Robert Lewandoski making a return to the Allianz Arena for the first since his departure.

2019/20 Runner-up Paris St Germain have been pitted alongside Juventus.

Juventus are unbeaten in their eight games against Paris, winning the last six.

The draw below

Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers

Group B: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge

Group C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, FC Viktoria Plzeň

Group D: Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sporting, Marseille

Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea, Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb

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

Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla, Dortmund, FC Copenhagen

Group H: PSG, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa

 

The group stage will be played over nine midweeks this season so the World Cup can be accommodated.

A busy group schedule

Uefa has to fit the Champions League group stage into a smaller period of time because of the Qatar World Cup.

The group stage starts on 6 September and runs to 2 November - a period of nine weeks (compared to 12 weeks normally).

Usually it runs until the second week of December - but the World Cup kicks off on 20 November.

There will only be three weeks without Champions League games between the groups starting and ending. Two of those land during the September international break - and the other in mid-October has a full round of midweek Premier League games.

The knockout stages will be later than usual. The last-16 ties will be played over a month from 14 February to 15 March. The quarter-finals are in April and the semis in May.

The final is at Istanbul's Ataturk Olympic Stadium on 10 June 2023. It was initially meant to be the venue for the 2020 final, and then the 2021 showpiece, but both finals were moved to Portugal because of Covid restrictions.