Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) will have a lot to do from the first round of the next Champions League. The champions of France inherited the Italians from Juventus of Turin, double winner of the competition (1985 and 1996). The two behemoths will be accompanied in Pool H by the Portuguese from Benfica Lisbon and the Israelis from Maccabi Haifa.
Threatened to quickly find themselves opposed to one of the European giants, Olympique de Marseille (OM) benefited from a rather lenient draw. The Phocaeans will face Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham and Sporting Portugal, Olympique de Marseille in the coming months. The “group of death” will mix Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan and Viktoria Plizen. The defending champions Real Madrid have inherited one of the most affordable groups, along with RB Leipzig, Chakhtar Donetsk and Celtic Glasgow.
Final in Istanbul
The draw for the group stage of the Champions League, the most prestigious European football competition, was held on Thursday August 25 in Istanbul. The Turkish capital will host the final of the 68th edition of the “C1”, on June 10, 2023, at the Atatürk stadium. The group stage will take place from September 6 to November 2. The top two from each group will qualify for the round of 16.
Second in Ligue 1 at the end of the 2021-2022 season, Olympique de Marseille will try to do better than in their last two appearances, which had turned into a nightmare. In 2013, with coach Elie Baup on his bench, OM lost their six games. Two years ago, the only French club to win the Champions League (in 1993) only took three points, after one victory and five defeats.
PSG among the big favorites
This year again, PSG will be among the big favorites for the big-eared cup, the Qataris’ ultimate goal since their takeover of the capital club in 2011. Last March, the team of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Neymar had prematurely took the door of the competition, from the round of 16, against Real Madrid, final winner and record holder of the number of successes in the competition (fourteen).
This edition will see its calendar greatly tightened due to the unprecedented organization of the World Cup, moved back from November 20 to December 18, and not in June and July as usual, due to local climatic conditions.
All groups
Groupe A : Ajax Amsterdam ; Liverpool ; Naples ; Glasgow Rangers
Groupe B: FC Porto; Atlético Madrid; Bayer Leverkusen; Club Bruges
Group C : Bayern Munich ; Barcelona FC ; Inter Milan ; Victoria Plizen
Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt; Tottenham; Sporting Portugal; Olympic Marseille
Group E: AC Milan; Chelsea; RB Salzburg; Dinamo Zagreb
Groupe F : Real Madrid ; RB Leipzig ; Chakhtar Donetsk ; Celtic Glasgow
Group G: Manchester City; Sevilla FC; Dortmund; FC Copenhagen
Group H: PSG; Juventus Torino; Benfica; Maccabi Haifa