Champions League draw as it happened: Newcastle in Group of Death! Man United get Bayern, Arsenal get Sevilla
It's the Champions League draw live, as Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle United are drawn in their groups
Hello and welcome to the Champions League group stage draw for 2023/24! Over the next few hours, we're going to be bringing you the action as it happens, with five British clubs in the mix.
The groups will be drawn in Monaco – not long now to wait…
The stars are out tonight, to quote David Bowie
Joe Cole, Luis Figo and Henrik Larsson are all in Monaco today for the Champions League draw and have all got their hands on the trophy ahead of the big event.
The pots for the draw today:
Pot 1
🏴 Manchester City
🇪🇸 Sevilla
🇪🇸 Barcelona
🇮🇹 Napoli
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain
🇵🇹 Benfica
🇳🇱 Feyenoord
Pot 2
🇪🇸 Real Madrid
🏴 Manchester United
🇮🇹 Inter Milan
🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund
🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid
🇩🇪 RB Leipzig
🇵🇹 Porto
🏴 Arsenal
Pot 3
🇺🇦 Shakhtar Donetsk
🇦🇹 Red Bull Salzburg
🇮🇹 AC Milan
🇵🇹 Braga
🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven
🇮🇹 Lazio
🇷🇸 Red Star Belgrade
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
Pot 4
🇨🇭 Young Boys
🇪🇸 Real Sociedad
🇹🇷 Galatasaray
🏴 Celtic
🏴 Newcastle United
🇩🇪 Union Berlin
🇧🇪 Antwerp
🇫🇷 Lens
The format is changing
This is the last time that the Champions League will look like this. From 2024, there will be 36 entrants into the competition, with the potential of five teams from the Premier League.
Here’s FFT’s Adam Clery to explain everything…
This is the first season in 21 years that neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will be in a Champions League squad.
Ronaldo never played in the competition with Sporting, making his debut in the competition with Manchester United against Stuttgart in 2003. Messi, meanwhile, featured in Barcelona’s 2-0 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2004 for his European bow.
Fitting, then, that Messi left Europe for Inter Miami a year after Ronaldo’s last appearance in the competition, meaning that they both completed 19 seasons in the competition.
The pairings for the competition have already been drawn, meaning that these teams will play on different nights from one another:
🏴 Manchester City and Manchester United
🇪🇸 Sevilla and Atletico Madrid
🇪🇸 Barcelona and Real Madrid
🇮🇹 Napoli and Lazio
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain and Lens
🇵🇹 Benfica and Porto
🇳🇱 Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven
🇮🇹 Inter Milan and AC Milan
🇩🇪 Leipzig and Union Berlin
🏴 Arsenal and Newcastle United
The trophies are here
The trophies are here. Of course, only the draw for the big one is being done today.
The Europa League and Europa Conference League draws are being done tomorrow morning. That's because there are still teams fighting it out in qualifying tonight.
Usually they're all done together but… we're guessing UEFA want to ease the clash of Deadline Day?
The other big change is that no longer are we in the 'House of European football' in Nyom, Switzerland. The draws are being made in Monaco today. The principality used to be a regular host for the Super Cup despite its ground, Stade Louis II barely being big enough to swing a furry animal – so this is a nostalgic trip back down memory lane for UEFA dignitaries who have gathered by the Med for this event.
They're back – excited Gooners?
There will be no Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, N’Golo Kante, Sadio Mane or Riyad Mahrez in the Champions League this year… but maybe next year.
Saudi Arabia have held talks with UEFA over the possibility of Saudi Pro League sides entering the competition as a wildcard. No, really. Here’s everything you need to know about the situation…
2023/24 Champions League outright winner: Latest odds via BitcoinCasinos.com
Man City - 2/1
Bayern Munich - 11/2
Real Madrid - 8/1
Arsenal, Barcelona - 12/1
PSG - 14/1
Man United - 16/1
Napoli, Newcastle - 20/1
Atletico Madrid, Inter - 28/1
Dortmund - 33/1
AC Milan - 40/1
Benfica, RB Leipzig, Sevilla - 50/1
Celtic - 150/1
Newcastle United are back in the big-time. You might have heard.
The last time that the Magpies were competing the Champions League, Alan Shearer was up front and Sir Bobby Robson was in the dugout. That was in 2002/03 and it’s safe to say that plenty has changed up in Tyneside since then.
The latest issue of FourFourTwo takes a deep dive into what’s happened to the Toon in the past 18 months, as Newcastle gear up for European football once more. It’s available now!
The stage is set…
About an hour to go before the buildup begins on TNT Sports.
This is the first time since 2017/18 that Ajax have not qualified for the Champions League.
The four-time European champions dropped to third in the Eredivisie after Erik ten Hag moved to Manchester United and won’t be involved this time around.
While we think of de Godenzonen as regulars of recent years, however, they’ve not had the best record since reaching the semi-finals in 2019. Only once have they managed to get out of the groups once in that time – when they topped the group in 2021/22 with six wins on the spin before falling to Benfica in the last-16.
Mateo Kovacic is on a mission to double an elite club this season.
Famously, only Clarence Seedorf has ever won the Champions League title with three separate clubs. The legendary Dutchman was European champion with Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and later with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007. Can Kova repeat the feat?
The Croatian is a four-time European champion, having lifted Old Big Ears for Real Madrid’s threepeat of 2016, 2017 and 2018 before doing so again with Chelsea in 2021. Now at Manchester City, there’s a very real possibility that he could be adding a fifth medal to his cabinet this time around…
European champions who aren’t in the Champions League this season:
Liverpool (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005, 2019)
Ajax (1971, 1972, 1973, 1995)
Juventus (1985, 1996)
Chelsea (2012, 2021)
Nottingham Forest (1979, 1980)
Aston Villa (1982)
Hamburg (1983)
Steaua Bucuresti (1986)
PSV (1988)
Red Star Belgrade (1991)
Marseille (1993)
Wembley Stadium will be hosting the final of the Champions League once again this season.
Previous Wembley finals:
1963: AC Milan 2-1 Benfica
1968: Manchester United 4-1 Benfica
1971: Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos
1978: Liverpool 1-0 Club Brugge
1992: Barcelona 1-0 Sampdoria
2011: Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United
2013: Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Making their debut in the competition are Union Berlin, who finished in the top four of the Bundesliga last season.
Union won’t be playing their European fixtures at their home ground, Stadion An der Alten Forsterei, however. The ground doesn’t meet UEFA standards, so the Olympic Stadium down the road – used by local rivals Hertha – will be borrowed this season.
Arsenal fans would love to see their side get to Wembley this time around, given how good their record there is.
Excluding the two Premier League games away to Tottenham under the arch, where they drew both, the Gunners have won 15 of their last 16 appearances at Wembley, since they lost the League Cup there in 2011. Most recently they beat Treble winners City on penalties earlier this month in the Community Shield.
Naturally, we had to ask TNT presenter and self-proclaimed Gooner Laura Woods how she’d feel about the prospect of seeing her club in a Wembley Champions League final…
Erik ten Hag’s record in European competition is impressive.
The Dutchman has won 17 and drawn 7 of the 32 games he’s played in the Champions League – and that’s with an Ajax team that no one particularly expected much from in Europe’s elite competition.
Should United be one of the favourites this time?
It’s 60 years this year since Benfica first lost a Champions League final. It’s been a long, hard road since that.
Benfica coach Bela Guttmann went to the board in 1962, having just won two European Cups for the Eagles, to ask for a modest payrise. He was flat out refused – and he took the most severe revenge he could, declaring, “Not in a hundred years from now will Benfica ever be European champions again.”
He was right. Benfica lost the final of the European Cup in 1963, 1965, 1968, 1988 and 1990, before losing UEFA Cup/Europa League finals in 1983, 2013 and 2014. Club legend Eusebio even visited Guttmann’s grave in 1990, begging for the curse to be lifted.
Will Benfica ever win the competition again?
Here’s one for trivia buffs.
Only two clubs have won the Champions League since 2000, having never won it in the 20th Century… that’s Chelsea (2012 and 2021) and Manchester City (2023). And they say money can’t buy you success…
Remember how Manchester City won the Champions League final last season?
Course you do. But in case you don’t, here’s Adam Clery with a tactical breakdown of how Pep Guardiola overthought the game yet again but still managed to come out on top.
A fascinating addition to the Champions League this season is French side Lens, who have qualified for the first time since 2002.
Les Sang et Or finished second in Ligue 1 last term, taking French football by storm – but things will be extremely tough for them this time around. Top scorer Lois Openda has gone to RB Leipzig in a record sale, while captain and midfield lynchpin Seko Fofana left for Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Nassr.
Having replaced the likes of Cheick Doucoure and Arnaud Kalimuendo over recent seasons, there is hope that Lens can rebuild adequately. It’ll be interesting to see whether they can make the step up to the Champions League.
Shakhtar Donetsk have qualified for the Champions League but, of course, will not be playing their home fixtures in Ukraine for political reasons.
Instead, the club will be setting up camp at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion for their home fixtures this term. Ranked at No.57 in FourFourTwo's Best Stadiums in the World list, it might be the only chance you’ll get to go to the ground for European competition, given that its permanent tenants Hamburg are languishing in Germany’s second division right now…
Paris Saint-Germain have completely remodelled – are they one of the favourites for the Champions League this time around?
Everything that made that side dysfunctional has been ripped out and replaced. Former European champion Luis Enrique is at the helm, with no Lionel Messi or Neymar, as the French giants look a lot more serious. Ousmane Dembele, Lucas Hernandez and Marco Asensio are all in, too. Could this finally be their time?
The draw is about to get underway on TNT Sports…
It would certainly be sweet for Harry Kane to lift the Champions League on a return to London with Bayern Munich next summer.
The England captain scored a stunning 65 goals in all competitions in the two seasons – yes, just two – that Tottenham played under the arch.
Newcastle United will be hoping that their return to the Champions League goes a little smoother than the last time they were in the competition.
The Magpies became the first team to ever qualify out of their group having lost their first three fixtures of the competition, pulling off one of the most remarkable comebacks in Champions League history. Dynamo Kyiv and Feyenoord beat them 1-0 in Ukraine and Tyneside respectively, before Alessandro Del Piero then scored a brace in Turin to consign Sir Bobby Robson’s side to the bottom of the group.
Then something amazing happened. Newcastle beat Juventus 1-0 in the reverse fixture thanks to an Andy Griffin goal, then beat Dynamo 2-1 as revenge for the earlier defeat. The Lazarus performance was completed in Rotterdam with a 90th-minute Craig Bellamy winner seeing Newcastle win 3-2.
Shameless plug for the latest issue of FourFourTwo, by the way, which analyses the current state of the Toon in the club’s first-ever FFT cover. It’s a good’un!
Feyenoord go straight into Pot 1 for today’s draw.
They won the European Cup in 1970 but it’s not been a happy competition for them in recent years.
In 2017/18, the Rotterdam outfit were eliminated in the group stage at the hands of Manchester City, Napoli and Shakhtar. Before that, you have to go back to 2002/03 for their last appearance – where as UEFA Cup holders, they were eliminated in the groups once more.
Back then, Newcastle United triumphed to go through. With the Magpies back in the big-time, will history repeat?
Erling Haaland for the Champions League Golden Boot, anyone?
The Scandi superhero has an insane 35 goals in just 30 appearances and already sits joint 21st on the all-time scorers’ list in the competition. He already has more strikes in the tournament than Samuel Eto'o, Wayne Rooney and Arjen Robben. He’s also the only player within the top 50 with a record of over a goal a game.
On his current trajectory, it’ll take Haaland just 90 more games to break Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal record.
Pep Guardiola will be hoping to win his third Champions League final at Wembley Stadium this season.
The Catalan lifted Old Big Ears as a player in 1992 in London before winning his second European title under the arch in 2011 against Manchester United.
Here are all the dates you need for the Champions League group stage:
Matchday 1: September 19-20
Matchday 2: October 3-4
Matchday 3: October 24-25
Matchday 4: November 7-8
Matchday 5: November 28-29
Matchday 6: December 12-13
We're nearly ready! Here’s how many clubs get to at least the qualifiers for the Champions League.
Four clubs: England, Spain, Italy, Germany
Three clubs: France, Portugal
Two clubs: Netherlands, Austria, Scotland
One club: Everyone else, except Russia and Liechtenstein
Pedro Pinto is presenting today’s draws with Reshmin Chowdhury. Pinto is a Portuguese-American journalist who’s worked for CNN in the past and he’s been Chief of Press at UEFA for 10 years, now. Chowdhury is one of the most recognisable football presenters in Britain right now, having worked on BT Sport and ITV.
We now have a short intermission with a couple playing piano and saxophone. It's a jazzy version of the Champions League theme.
We're finally kicking off, with some of the biggest faces in football in the room.
Here's Emilio Butragueno, formerly of Real Madrid, as we watch some highlights of the 2023 final between City and Inter.
A reminder of the pots for the draw today:
Pot 1
🏴 Manchester City
🇪🇸 Sevilla
🇪🇸 Barcelona
🇮🇹 Napoli
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain
🇵🇹 Benfica
🇳🇱 Feyenoord
Pot 2
🇪🇸 Real Madrid
🏴 Manchester United
🇮🇹 Inter Milan
🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund
🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid
🇩🇪 RB Leipzig
🇵🇹 Porto
🏴 Arsenal
Pot 3
🇺🇦 Shakhtar Donetsk
🇦🇹 Red Bull Salzburg
🇮🇹 AC Milan
🇵🇹 Braga
🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven
🇮🇹 Lazio
🇷🇸 Red Star Belgrade
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
Pot 4
🇨🇭 Young Boys
🇪🇸 Real Sociedad
🇹🇷 Galatasaray
🏴 Celtic
🏴 Newcastle United
🇩🇪 Union Berlin
🇧🇪 Antwerp
🇫🇷 Lens
"It was just amazing to see the players, they enjoyed that day," City Director of Football Txiki Begiristain tells Pedro Pinto "We had four semi-finals, the final at Porto but finally we got there."
Too jazzy?
Pedro and Reshmin now welcome Joe Cole and Eric Abidal to the stage for the draw.
As ever, Deputy General Secretary of UEFA, Giorgio Marchetti is assisting with today’s draws. Marchetti was previously Director of Competitions at UEFA, responsible for all youth and professional club and national competitions.
It's about to begin at last – let's go!
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich are first out of the pot
🇪🇸 Sevilla are next out of the pot – they go into Group B
🇮🇹 Napoli are in Group C
🇵🇹 Benfica in Group D
🇳🇱 Feyenoord in Group E
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain in Group F
🏴 Manchester City in Group G
🇪🇸 Barcelona in Group H
Onto Pot 2…
Group F
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain
🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund
The Dembele derby!
Group B
🇪🇸 Sevilla
🏴 Arsenal
Not the worst option for the Gunners.
Group E
🇳🇱 Feyenoord
🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid
Group A
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich
🏴 Manchester United
It's a rematch of 1999!
Group G
🏴 Manchester City
🇩🇪 RB Leipzig
Once more, Leipzig play City. Josko Gvardiol faces his old club already.
Group D
🇵🇹 Benfica
🇮🇹 Inter Milan
Group H
🇪🇸 Barcelona
🇵🇹 Porto
Group C
🇮🇹 Napoli
🇪🇸 Real Madrid
Some huge clashes there. Now we move onto Pot 3
Group H
🇪🇸 Barcelona
🇵🇹 Porto
🇺🇦 Shakhtar Donetsk
Group G
🏴 Manchester City
🇩🇪 RB Leipzig
🇷🇸 Red Star Belgrade
A long flight ahead for Pep…
Group B
🇪🇸 Sevilla
🏴 Arsenal
🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven
Arsenal face PSV again, after playing the Rotterdam outfit in the Europa last season.
Group F
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain
🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund
🇮🇹 AC Milan
That's a tasty looking group, right?
Group D
🇵🇹 Benfica
🇮🇹 Inter Milan
🇦🇹 Red Bull Salzburg
Group E
🇳🇱 Feyenoord
🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid
🇮🇹 Lazio
Group A
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich
🏴 Manchester United
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
Group C
🇮🇹 Napoli
🇪🇸 Real Madrid
🇵🇹 Braga
24 down, eight to go…
Group D
🇵🇹 Benfica
🇮🇹 Inter Milan
🇦🇹 Red Bull Salzburg
🇪🇸 Real Sociedad
Our first complete group!
Group F
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain
🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund
🇮🇹 AC Milan
🏴 Newcastle United
WOW!
Group A
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich
🏴 Manchester United
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
🇹🇷 Galatasaray
It's a tricky one for United!
Group C
🇮🇹 Napoli
🇪🇸 Real Madrid
🇵🇹 Braga
🇩🇪 Union Berlin
Group G
🏴 Manchester City
🇩🇪 RB Leipzig
🇷🇸 Red Star Belgrade
🇨🇭 Young Boys
City, once again, with a fairly straightforward group.
Group B
🇪🇸 Sevilla
🏴 Arsenal
🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven
🇫🇷 Lens
Group E
🇳🇱 Feyenoord
🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid
🇮🇹 Lazio
🏴 Celtic
A real chance for the Bhoys.
Group A
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich
🏴 Manchester United
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
🇹🇷 Galatasaray
Group B
🇪🇸 Sevilla
🏴 Arsenal
🇳🇱 PSV Eindhoven
🇫🇷 Lens
Group C
🇮🇹 Napoli
🇪🇸 Real Madrid
🇵🇹 Braga
🇩🇪 Union Berlin
Group D
🇵🇹 Benfica
🇮🇹 Inter Milan
🇦🇹 Red Bull Salzburg
🇪🇸 Real Sociedad
Group E
🇳🇱 Feyenoord
🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid
🇮🇹 Lazio
🏴 Celtic
Group F
🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain
🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund
🇮🇹 AC Milan
🏴 Newcastle United
Group G
🏴 Manchester City
🇩🇪 RB Leipzig
🇷🇸 Red Star Belgrade
🇨🇭 Young Boys
Group H
🇪🇸 Barcelona
🇵🇹 Porto
🇺🇦 Shakhtar Donetsk
🇧🇪 Antwerp
What a draw that was.
Newcastle United obviously have the toughest task of any of the English sides – but then we fully expected that given that they were in Pot 4. The Magpies travel to PSG, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan, where Sandro Tonali will face his former side.
Manchester United have an eye-catching draw, too, playing the team they beat in the 1999 Champions League final, Bayern Munich. With games in Copenhagen and Galatasaray, there are some amazing away trips set for Red Devils fans this autumn.
The same could be said of Arsenal, who play Sevilla, PSV and Lens. Some short-haul flights for Gunners fans, who have a real chance of topping their group, given that they're arguably the best of any of those four sides.
Manchester City, meanwhile, have yet another group they'll expect to win six from six from – and Erling Haaland may wonder quite how many goals he'll be racking up here. RB Leipzig, Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys await the holders.
FFT's Adam Clery sums it up well as a Toon fan…
Man City in the League Cup...PSG, Dortmund, and Milan in the Champions League... Newcastle somehow going to draw 1970s Brazil in the FA Cup at this rate.August 31, 2023
FFT's Matt Ketchell is looking forward to this group…
Am now, away to get me LederhosenMEASURED https://t.co/MIsQqNr8EvAugust 31, 2023
There were audible gasps in the room in Monaco, by the way, when Newcastle were drawn out of that group.
Agree, Arsenal fans?
If we don't finish top, what's going on https://t.co/YlnRRuN3CGAugust 31, 2023
It needs to be said, too, that Celtic have been given the best possible chance of progressing. They've got Feyenoord, Atletico and Lazio.
Brendan Rodgers returns to European football this season with Celtic and his record is… unenviable. It was always a criticism of the Northern Irishman that he couldn’t hack it on the continent and the numbers don’t make for great reading.
Rodgers has won just two of his 18 Champions League fixtures, facing group stage elimination three times: twice with the Bhoys, once with Liverpool. Since then, he’s done a little better in the Europa with Leicester. Here’s hoping he gets a favourable draw and can change history a little.
It seems unlikely – but it’s looked this week as if Real Madrid and Barcelona could yet be thrown out of the Champions League.
All thanks to Luis Rubiales…
Newcastle don't exactly have an easy group – but how does it compare to these?
These are the most difficult groups in Champions League history!
Players facing former sides this autumn in the Champions League:
Sandro Tonali (Newcastle, formerly of Milan)
Rasmus Hojlund (Manchester United, formerly of Copenhagen)
Ousmane Dembele (PSG, formerly of Dortmund)
Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City, formerly of Leipzig)
Let us know if we've missed any obvious ones.
Champions League finals that we'll see repeated this season:
Inter Milan vs Benfica (1965)
Feyenoord vs Celtic (1970)
Manchester United vs Bayern (1999)
Those groups one more time…
The dates you need for the Champions League group stage, one more time…
Matchday 1: September 19-20
Matchday 2: October 3-4
Matchday 3: October 24-25
Matchday 4: November 7-8
Matchday 5: November 28-29
Matchday 6: December 12-13
Thanks for joining us – we'll leave it there. See you in September for Matchday 1!
