Highlights UEFA Champions League draw: Real Madrid in Group F; Bayern, Barca, Inter in Group C; Putellas, Benzema win Player of the Year awards

Highlights from the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 draw from Istanbul on Thursday.

The trophy is placed on display for the photographers before the Champions League draw in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. | Photo Credit: AP Photo/Emrah Gurel

Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 draw from Istanbul on Thursday.

Key points to note

• Defending champion Real Madrid in Group F along with RB Leipzig, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic FC
• Group of Death - Group C comprising of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan and FC Viktoria Plzen is this season’s Group of Death.
• Europa League champion Eintracht Frankfurt in Group D along with Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting Clube De Portugal and Olympique de Marseille
• Awards: Sarina Weigman and Carlo Ancelotti win UEFA Coach of the Year awards. Alexia Putellas and Karim Benzema win UEFA Women’s and Men’s Player of the Year awards respectively.

UEFA Award winners

UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year: English Women’s team coach Sarina Wiegman wins the UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year award. She guided the England team to the Women’s Euro 2022 title.

UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti wins the UEFA Men’s Coach the Year award. He guided Real Madrid to the Champions League title last season, his second with the club. He is also the only manager in history to win four Champions League titles.

UEFA Women’s Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas wins the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year award. She netted 34 goals for Barcelona last season as the club won all the domestic trophies and reached the Champions League final.

UEFA Men’s Player of the Year: Karim Benzema wins the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award. He won the La Liga and Champions League with Real Madrid last season. He was the top scorer in the Champions League last year with 15 goals. He was also the top scorer of La Liga with 27 goals.

UEFA Champions League complete groups below

UEFA Champions League 2022-23 Groups

Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers FC

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

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

Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting Clube De Portugal, Olympique de Marseille

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

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

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

Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa F.C.

9:45 pm: Former Turkish international Hamit Altintop brings the UEFA Champions League trophy on the stage. He will be assisting with the draw. Joining him will be 2009 Champions League winner with Barcelona, Yaya toure.

9:40 pm: The ceremony begins. Aleksander Ceferin on the stage: As announced before, former Italian coach Arrigo Sacchi wins the UEFA President’s award. He won the Serie A title in his 1987–88 debut season and then dominated European football by winning back to back European Cups in 1989 and 1990. 

All you need to know

Know your facts

Real Madrid is the defending champion of the UEFA Champions League after beating Liverpool in the final last season.

Champions League group stage matches will start on September 6 and end on November 2.

The Champions League final will be held in Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium on June 10.

Champions League Group Stage Pots

Pot 1

Real Madrid

Eintracht Frankfurt

Manchester City

AC Milan

Bayern Munich

PSG

Porto

Ajax

Pot 2

Liverpool

Chelsea

Barcelona

Juventus

Atletico Madrid

Sevilla

RB Leipzig

Tottenham

Pot 3

Borussia Dortmund

RB Salzburg

Shakhtar Donetsk

Inter Milan

Napoli

Sporting Lisbon

Bayern Leverkusen

Olympic Marseille

Pot 4

Club Brugge

Celtic

Maccabi Haifa

Copenhagen

Dinamo Zagreb

Viktoria Plzen

Rangers

Benfica

When will the UEFA Champions League group stage draw take place?

The UEFA Champions League group stage draw will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, August 23, and will begin from 9:30 PM IST.

How to watch UEFA Champions League group stage draw live?

UEFA Champions League group stage draw will be telecasted live on Sony TEN 2 and Sony TEN 2HD channels. Sony LIV app will be live stream the event online. UEFA’s official website will also live stream the event.

Champions League Group Stage draw format: What to keep in mind?

• There are 32 teams from 15 different countries. They will go into groups of four and all the teams in each group will play each other twice (home-and-away games).
• Teams from the same country cannot be in the same group.
• The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stage next year. 
• The top seeds are the winners of last season’s Champions League and Europa League, Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt, plus the champions of the highest-ranked domestic leagues.