
Real Madrid have only just won the Champions League but the journey to next season’s competition is already upon us.
Qualifying rounds will take place throughout the summer, though a number of teams already know their potential opponents with pots beginning to take shape.
Here’s all you need to know.
There are four pots for the Champions League group stage draw. They are then allocated into eight groups of four in the draw on August 25.
Pot 1 is made up of the league champions from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Primeira Liga as well as the Champions League and Europa League winners.
Pots 2, 3 and 4 and then determined by UEFA club coefficient, which is determined by how well each side has done in Europe over the past five seasons.
As Real Madrid won both La Liga and the Champions League, the spare spot in Pot 1 will go to the winner of the seventh-ranked league in Europe, which is the Netherlands’ Eredivisie – Ajax won that division in 2022/23.
2022/23 Champions League Pot 1
- Real Madrid
- Eintracht Frankfurt
- Manchester City
- AC Milan
- Bayern Munich
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Porto
- Ajax
2022/23 Champions League Pot 2
- Liverpool
- Chelsea
- Barcelona
- Juventus
- Atletico Madrid
- Sevilla
- RB Leipzig
- Tottenham
2022/23 Champions League Pot 3
- Borussia Dortmund
- Red Bull Salzburg
- Shakhtar Donetsk
- Inter
- Napoli
- Sporting CP
- Bayer Leverkusen
2022/23 Champions League Pot 4
- Club Brugge
- Celtic
2022/23 Champions League Pot 3 or 4
- Marseille
- 2 winners from play-off round (League Path)
- 4 winners from play-off round (Champions Path)
2022/23 Champions League qualifying and play-off round
For teams who haven’t automatically qualified through league positions, qualifying rounds will determine who makes it into the Champions League.
Champions Path
All league champions who do not qualify directly for the group stage go into the Champions Path.
It includes:
- Preliminary round (4 teams playing one-legged semi-finals and final) – 4 teams enter
- First qualifying round (30 teams) – 29 teams enter, 1 winner of preliminary round
- Second qualifying round (20 teams) – 5 teams enter, 15 winners of first qualifying round
- Third qualifying round (12 teams) – 2 teams enter, 10 winners of second qualifying round
- Play-off round (8 teams): 2 teams enter, 6 winners of third qualifying round
Teams eliminated from this path enter either the Europa League or Europa Conference League at different stages, depending on when they were knocked out.
Play-off round
- Copenhagen
- Trabzonspor
Third qualifying round
- Crvena zvezda
- Apollon Limassol
Second qualifying round
- Dinamo Zagreb
- Olympiacos
- Viktoria Plzen
- Maccabi Haifa
- Zurich
First qualifying round
- Qarabag
- Malmo
- Ludogorets Razgrad
- Sheriff Tiraspol
- CFR Cluj
- Bodo/Glimt
- Ferencvaros
- Slovan Bratislava
- HJK
- The New Saints
- F91 Dudelange
- Lincoln Red Imps
- Shamrock Rovers
- Linfield
- Zrinjski
- Shakhtyor Soligorsk
- Sutjeska Niksic
- Ki Klaksvik
- Lech Poznan
- Hibernians
- Tobol
- Shkupi
- PyunikRFS
- Dinamo Batumi
- Tirana
- Ballkani
Preliminary round
- LCI Levadia
- La Fiorita
- Inter Club d’Escaldes
- Vikingur Reykjavik
League Path
The League Path includes non-champions who did not qualify directly for the group stage.
It includes:
- Second qualifying round (4 teams) – 4 teams enter
- Third qualifying round (8 teams) – 6 teams enter, 2 winners of second qualifying round
- Play-off round (4 teams) – 4 winners of third qualifying round.
Two losers from the second qualifying round enter the Europa League’s Main Path qualifiers, while the four losers from the third qualifying stage and the two play-off round losers enter the group stage.
Third qualifying round
- Benfica
- Rangers
- PSV Eindhoven
- Monaco
- Sturm Graz
- Union Saint-Gilloise
Second qualifying round
- Dynamo Kyiv
- Midtjylland
- Fenerbahce
- AEK Larnaca
2022/23 Champions League draw schedules
- Preliminary round – 7 June
- First qualifying round – 14 June
- Second qualifying round – 15 June
- Third qualifying round – 18 July
- Play-offs – 1 August
- Group stage – 25 August
Qualifying matches will take place throughout the summer, with the final play-offs set to be played on 16/17 and 23/24 August.
JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP