Champions League group stage draw: key dates and pots – Tonali and Milan meet again?

The Champions League group stage draw will take place on August 31 and the four Serie A representatives already know in which pot they are and could all meet Sandro Tonali’s Newcastle.

The draw will take place on August 31 from 18:00 CEST. It will be the last edition of the Champions League with 32 participants given that from 2024-25, there will be 36 clubs involved in the tournament with a new formula.

Napoli, Lazio, Inter and Milan are the Serie A representatives in Europe’s elite competition for 2023-24.

The Partenopei are in pot 1 alongside other league winners from 2022-23 plus the latest Champions League and Europa League winners, Manchester City and Sevilla.

Inter are in pot 2 with other European giants such as Real and Atletico Madrid, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Lazio and Milan are in pot 3 which will be completed by the winner of Rangers-PSV. The Rossoneri could meet their ex-star Sandro Tonali who is in pot 4 with his Newcastle side.

Five more teams must earn a spot in the last Champions League pot with playoffs completed by August 30, the day before the draw.

Champions League draw – key dates

Group phase games:

September 19-20
October 3-4
October 24-25
November 7-8
November 28-29
December 12-13

Round of 16

Draw: December 14
First legs: February 13-14 and 20-21
Second legs: March 5-6 and March 12-13

Quarter-finals

Draw: March 15
First legs: April 9-10
Second legs: April 16-17

Semi-finals

Draw: March 15
First legs: April 30, May 1
Second legs: May 7-8

Final

June 1 at Wembley Stadium, London

Champions League 2023-24 pots

Pot 1: Man City, Napoli, Barcelona, Bayern, PSG, Benfica, Sevilla, Feyenoord

Pot 2: Inter, Real Madrid, Man United, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, Porto

Pot 3: Lazio, Milan, Shakhtar, RB Salzburg, Red Star, Real Sociedad*, Celtic*, Rangers OR PSV

Pot 4: Newcastle, Lens, Union Berlin, Antwerp OR AEK, Rakow OR Copenhagen, Braga OR Panathinaikos, Maccabi Haifa OR Young Boys, Molde OR Galatasaray

*Could end up in pot 4