Here are the groups for the 2022/23 Champions League

19:21 - That's the end of the ceremony. Thanks for joining us for this one and see you again soon!

19:18 - Karim Benzema is the men's player of the year. What a great season he had!

19:15 - The UEFA women's player of the year is won by Alexia Putellas! Such a shame she couldn't play in the Euros...

19:08 - Carlo Ancelotti is the men's coach of the year after leading Real Madrid to La Liga and the Champions League. Again, well deserved.

19:04 - Sarina Wiegman wins the UEFA women's coach of the year after winning the Euros with England. Very well deserved.

Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers. 

Group B: Porto, Atletico, Leverkusen, Club Brugge

Group C: Bayern, Barcelona, Inter, Viktoria Plzen

Group D: Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sporting, Marseille

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

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

Group G: Man City, Sevilla, Dortmund, Copenhagen.

Group H: PSG, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa.

 

August 25, 2022

19:02- Groups A and C look the toughest while group E is probably the weakest. Real Madrid, Chelsea and Tottenham will be happy. Liverpool less so.

19:01 - Champions League draw completed!

19:00 - Viktoria Plzen are the final team out and they are in group C with Barcelona, Bayern and Inter!

18:58 - Maccabi Haifa are the penultimate team out and they will play in group H with PSG, Juventus and Benfica!

18:57 - Dinamo Zagreb are out and will be group E with Salzburg, Chelsea and AC Milan!

18:57 - Rangers are the next side out and they are in group A with Ajax, Liverpool and Napoli!

18:57 - Brugge are drawn out and will be in group B with Porto, Atletico and Leverkusen!

18:55 - Copenhagen are out next and are in group G with Dortmund, Man City and Sevilla!

18:52 - Marseille are the next team out and they are in group D with Frankfurt, Sporting and Tottenham!

18:52 - Celtic are the first team drawn from pot 4! They will be in group F with Real Madrid, Leipzig and Shakhtar!

18:50 - Pot 4 being drawn!

18:49 - Inter are in group C with Barca and Bayern!

18:48 - Shakhtar Donetsk are in group F with Real Madrid and Leipzig.

18:48 - Sporting Lisbon are the next team to be drawn! They are in group D with Frankfurt and Tottenham!

18:47 - Bayer Leverkusen are the next team out! Group B with Porto and Atletico Madrid!

18:47 - Dortmund are in group G with Man City and Sevilla!

18:46 - Benfica are the next side out! They are in group H with PSG and Juventus!

18:43 - Salzburg are the next club to be drawn! They are in group E with Chelsea and AC Milan!

18:43 - Napoli are the first team out from pot 3! They are in group A with Ajax and Liverpool!

18:42 - Pot 3 being drawn!

18:41 - Atletico Madrid are also out and they will be in group B with Porto, just like last season.

18:40 - Chelsea are out next and will be in group E with AC Milan!

18:40 - Barcelona drawn with Bayern Munich!

18:39 - Barcelona are the next team and they will be in group C with Bayern Munich!

18:39 - Sevilla are out and will be in group G with Man City!

18:38 - Liverpool's ball is opened and they have been assigned to group A with Ajax!

18:37 - Tottenham are the next team to be drawn and they are in group D with Frankfurt!

18:35 - Juventus are drawn out and they will be in group H with PSG!

18:34 - Leipzig are drawn out first and they are in group F with Real Madrid!

18:33 - Pot 2 being drawn!

18:31 - PSG are now in group H!

18:31 - Man City are drawn into group G!

18:31 - Real Madrid are into group F!

18:30 - AC Milan are out and next are in group E!

18:30 - Frankfurt are out and will be in group D!

18:29 - Bayern Munich are out next and are in group C!

18:29 - Porto are drawn out and they'll go into group B! Benfica must go in a blue group now. 

18:28 - Yaya Toure draws the first team out and it's Ajax! They'll go into group A.

18:27 - Pot one being drawn!

18:26 - Pot one about to be drawn!

18:23 - Marchetti says all the teams are in the competition on merit, "the essence of this competition." A clear dig at the European Super League there.

18:21 - The first teams are about to drawn!

18:19 - UEFA deputy head secretary Giorgio Marchetti on stage to explain the draw procedure.

18:16 - Yaya Toure is invited onto stage now. He is talking about winning the Champions League in 2009.

18:15 - Hamit Altintop, formerly of Real Madrid, Schalke and Galatasaray is next on stage.

18:14 - Sacchi is speaking in Italian to the presenters and he is delighted to win the award.

18:10 - Sacchi comes onto the stage to talk about winning the award!

18:09 - "Sacchi was a visionary. It was a surprise for me to see a team to attack all the time, especially an Italian team," Ceferin says. The Slovenian is full of respect for the former AC Milan and Atletico coach.

18:06 - The UEFA president's award for a former player or manager's services off the pitch is the first one to be presented. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is the president. Arrigo Sacchi is the winner.

18:02 - Pedro Pinto and Reshmin Choudhury are presenting the draw and we are now being shown a video of the best moments from last season.

18:00 - Champions League ceremony is underway!

17:37 - There are five German teams (Bayern, Dortmund, Leipzig, Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt) in the group stage for the first time. That was possible after 11th placed Frankfurt defeated Rangers on penalties in the Europa League final in May.

17:18- The Champions League group stage draw is approaching! Predictions?

17:17 - The group stage normally takes place between September but the winter World Cup means the group stage is condensed this year. It begins on 6th September and ends on 2nd November. The knockouts start in February, as usual, while the final is slightly later than normal.

17:15 - A new Adidas ball will be used for all matches in the group stage.

 

August 25, 2022

17:13 - We will also have the awards for men's and women's player and coach of the year plus a prize for each of the four positions on the pitch during the draw this evening.

17:11 - The final of the competition will be played at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, where Liverpool pulled off their miraculous comeback against AC Milan in the 2005 final. After two failed attempts due to COVID, this time Turkey should be able to host the final, which takes place on 10th June 2023.

17:10 - The pairings are: Real Madrid and Barcelona, Frankfurt and Leipzig, Man City and Liverpool, AC Milan and Napoli, Bayern and Dortmund, PSG and Marseille, Porto and Benfica, Chelsea and Tottenham, Juventus and Inter, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla and Rangers and Celtic.

16:56 - Some teams are also paired with another club for television purposes so if one of the pair is in a red group (A-D), the other must go in a blue group (E-H).

16:55 - A reminder that teams from the same pot or country cannot face each other in the group stage.

16:37 - Finally, pot 4 sees the supposedly weakest teams in the competition. Club Brugge, Celtic, Rangers, Marseille, Viktoria Plzen, Maccabi Haifa, Copenhagen and Dinamo Zagreb.

16:35 - In pot 3, we have Inter, Napoli, Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica.

16.34 - There are some very strong teams in pot 2. Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Juventus and RB Leipzig are in it.

16:33 - Pot 1 includes Real Madrid, Man City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, PSG, Porto, Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt.

16:27 - There are two Scottish teams in the group stage for the first time since 2007-08 and it is Rangers' first appearance since 2010. There are no Russian teams involved due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine while no Turkish team has qualified for the group stage for the first time in 27 seasons.

16:24 - Pot 1 features the Champions League and Europa League winners as well as the league champions from the six domestic leagues based on coefficient. As Real Madrid won La Liga as well, this year, it is seven. The rest of the clubs are divided into pots based on their coefficients.

16:14 - There are four pots for the draw and one team from each pot will be drawn into each group.

16:13 - Atmosphere's building in Istanbul!

16:12 - Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Champions League draw from Istanbul! We get underway at 18:00 CEST.