Benfica, Porto and Sporting Braga already know who the potential opponents are and who they should avoid in the UEFA Champions League group stage draw scheduled for Thursday in Monaco.
Following the conclusion of the Champions play-off qualifier this Wednesday, which determined the last qualifying teams (PSV Eindhoven, Antwerp and Copenhagen), 32 clubs were determined to pool the four pots in a draw, with squads drawn from the same commands. countries cannot overlap each other in the group stage.
Benfica, the reigning national champions, will be in the first pot, so they will have to avoid Manchester City (English and European champions), Sevilla (Europa League winners), Barcelona (Spanish champions), Napoli (Champions Italy), Bayern (German champions). ), Paris Saint-Germain (French champions) and Feyenoord (Dutch champions), all of them are inserted into one “pool” of “eagles”.
Porto are in the second pot along with Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter, Borussia Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, Leipzig and Arsenal – teams the Dragons won’t have to face but which will stand in the way of Lisbon and Minho. .
Sporting de Braga, who knocked out Greek side Panathinaikos in the play-offs on Tuesday to secure their third-ever presence in the group stage, will avoid Shakhtar Donetsk, Salzburg, Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Lazio , “Estrels of Vermelha” and “Copenhagen”, which are in the same “pool” and, therefore, are only potential rivals of “Benfica” and “Porto”.
The fourth pot includes Young Boys, Real Sociedad, Galatasaray, Celtic, Newcastle, Union Berlin, Antwerp and Lens, and these eight squads can face any Portuguese team.
The 2023/24 Champions League group stage draw is scheduled for Thursday starting at 17:00 (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 millionaire race final is scheduled for June 1, 2024 at Wembley Stadium in London.
The composition of the four pots of the 2023/24 Champions League draw:
Pot 1: Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Napoli (Ita), Bayern Munich (El), Paris Saint-Germain (France) BENFICA (POR) and Feyenoord (Holm).
Pot 2: Real Madrid (Esp), Manchester United (England), Inter (Ita), Borussia Dortmund (El), Atlético Madrid (Esp), Leipzig (El), PORTO (POR) and Arsenal (England).
Pot 3: Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr), Salzburg (Austria), AC Milan (Ita), SPORTING DE BRAGA (POR), PSV Eindhoven (Holland), Lazio (Ita), Estrela Vermelha ( Serie) and Copenhagen (Golnia).
Pot 4: Young Boys (Switzerland), Real Sociedad (Spain), Galatasaray (Turkey), Celtic (Esc), Newcastle (India), Union Berlin (Ale), Antwerp “(Belgium) and “Lance” (Fra).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.