Benfica, FC Porto and SC Braga already know who the possible rivals are and who they will avoid in the group stage of the Football Champions League, whose draw is scheduled for Thursday in Monaco.
With the conclusion today of the Champions League qualifying play-off, which determined the last classified teams (PSV Eindhoven, Antwerp and Copenhagen), the 32 clubs that make up the four drums in the draw were defined, without conditioning the formations of the same country. to be able to cross into the group stage.
Benfica, the current national champion, will be in pot 1, so they will avoid Manchester City (England and European champion), Sevilla (Europa League champion), FC Barcelona (Spanish champion), Napoli (Italy champion), Bayern Munich (German champion). ), Paris Saint-Germain (French champion) and Feyenoord (Holland champion), all of them inserted in the same ‘pool’ of the ‘eagles’.
FC Porto is integrated into pot 2, with Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Atlético de Madrid, Leipzig and Arsenal, teams that the ‘dragons’ will not face, but who will be on their way to Lisbon and minhotos.
Sporting de Braga, who eliminated Greek Panathinaikos in the play-off on Tuesday and secured their third presence in their history in the group stage, will avoid Shakhtar Donetsk, Salzburg, AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Lazio, Estrela Vermelha and Copenhagen , who are in the same ‘poule’ and, therefore, are only potential rivals for Benfica and FC Porto.
Pot 4 includes Young Boys, Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, Celtic, Newcastle, Union Berlin, Antwerp and Lens, and these eight formations can take on any of the Portuguese teams.
The draw for the 2023/24 Champions League group stage is scheduled for Thursday from 5:00 p.m. (Lisbon time), in Monaco.
The first round of the competition will take place on September 19 and 20, and the sixth and final round on December 12 and 13.
The final of the millionaire race is scheduled for June 1, 2024, at Wembley Stadium in London.
Composition of the four pots for the 2023/24 Champions League draw:
Pot 1: Manchester City (Eng), Sevilla (Esp), FC Barcelona (Esp), Napoli (Ita), Bayern Munich (Ale), Paris Saint-Germain (Fra), BENFICA (POR) and Feyenoord (Hol).
Pot 2: Real Madrid (Esp), Manchester United (Eng), Inter Milan (Ita), Borussia Dortmund (Ale), Atlético de Madrid (Esp), Leipzig (Ale), FC PORTO (POR) and Arsenal (Eng) .
Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk (Ucr), Salzburg (Aut), AC Milan (Ita), SPORTING DE BRAGA (POR), PSV Eindhoven (Hol), Lazio (Ita), Estrela Vermelha (Ser) and Copenhagen (Din).
Drum 4: Young Boys (Sui), Real Sociedad (Esp), Galatasaray (Tur), Celtic (Esc), Newcastle (Eng), Union Berlin (Ale), Antwerp (Bel) and Lens (Fra).
Source: TSF
