A total of 78 teams from 53 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions being Russia, who were banned from participating due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Liechtenstein,[Note LIE] which did not organise a domestic league). The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[6]
Associations 1–4 each had four teams qualify.
Associations 5–6 each had three teams qualify.
Associations 7–15 (except Russia)[Note RUS] each had two teams qualify.
Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein)[Note LIE] each had one team qualify.
For the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2021 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2016–17 to 2020–21.[7]
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
(UEL) – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
Distribution
The following is the access list for this season.[8]
Due to the suspension of Russia for the 2022–23 European season, the following changes to the access list were made:[9]
The champions of association 11 (Scotland) enter the group stage instead of the play-off round (Champions Path).
The champions of association 13 (Turkey) enter the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
The champions of association 15 (Cyprus) enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round (Champions Path).
The champions of associations 18 (Croatia) and 19 (Switzerland) enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round (Champions Path).
The runners-up of associations 10 (Austria) and 11 (Scotland) enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round (League Path).
Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[11] On 2 May 2022, UEFA confirmed that Russian clubs would be excluded from the 2022–23 UEFA competitions.[9]
The schedule of the competition was as follows. All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the preliminary round final and the final. Scheduled kick-off times starting from the play-off round were 18:45 and 21:00 CEST/CET.[12]
As the 2022 FIFA World Cup took place in Qatar between 20 November and 18 December 2022, the group stage commenced in the first week of September 2022 and concluded in the first week of November 2022 to make way for the World Cup.
The draws for the qualifying round started at 12:00 CEST/CET and were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.[13] The group stage draw took place in Istanbul, Turkey.[14]
Qualifying rounds
Preliminary round
A total of four teams played in the preliminary round. Seeding of teams was based on their 2022 UEFA club coefficients,[10] with two seeded teams and two unseeded teams in the semi-finals. The matches took place at Víkingsvöllur in Reykjavík, Iceland so the first team drawn in each tie in the semi-finals, and also the final (between the two winners of the semi-finals, whose identity was not known at the time of draw), would be the "home" team for administrative purposes. The winner of the preliminary round final advanced to the first qualifying round. The losers of the semi-finals and final were transferred to the Europa Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round.
First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 14 June 2022.[17] The first legs were played on 5 and 6 July, and the second legs were played on 12 and 13 July 2022.
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 15 June 2022.[18]
The first legs were played on 19 and 20 July, and the second legs were played on 26 and 27 July 2022.
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 18 July 2022.[19]
The first legs were played on 2 and 3 August, and the second legs were played on 9 August 2022.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round of their respective path. The Champions Path losers were transferred to the Europa League play-off round, while the League Path losers were transferred to the Europa League group stage.
Play-off round
The draw for the play-off round was held on 2 August 2022.[20]
The first legs were played on 16 and 17 August, and the second legs were played on 23 and 24 August 2022.
Location of teams of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage. Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H.
The draw for the group stage was held on 25 August 2022. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots, each of eight teams, based on the following principles:
Pot 1 contained the Champions League and Europa League title holders, and the champions of the top six associations based on their 2021 UEFA country coefficients. Since the Champions League title holders, Real Madrid, were also the champions of Association 2 (Spain), the champions of Association 7 (Netherlands), Ajax, were seeded into Pot 1.
Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
Eintracht Frankfurt made their debut appearance in the group stage (and first appearance in the European Cup since their loss in the 1960 final) after winning the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League and, as a result, this was the first time that five German clubs played in the group stage.
A total of 15 national associations were represented in the group stage. This season was the first since the 1995–96 edition in which a Turkish side failed to qualify for the group stage. It was also the first time since the 2007–08 season that two Scottish sides qualified for the group stage.
Group A
Source: UEFA Notes:
^ a bTied on head-to-head points. Head-to-head goal difference: Napoli +1, Liverpool −1.
Group B
Source: UEFA Notes:
^ a bHead-to-head points: Bayer Leverkusen 4, Atlético Madrid 1.
Group C
Source: UEFA
Group D
Source: UEFA
Group E
Source: UEFA
Group F
Source: UEFA
Group G
Source: UEFA
Group H
Source: UEFA Notes:
^ a bTied on head-to-head results, overall goal difference and overall goals scored. Overall away goals scored: Benfica 9, Paris Saint-Germain 6.
^ a bTied on head-to-head results. Overall goal difference is used as the tiebreaker.
Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
In the draws for the quarter-finals onwards, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner was designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).
Bracket
Round of 16
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 7 November 2022, 12:00 CET.[22]The first legs were played on 14, 15, 21 and 22 February, and the second legs were played on 7, 8, 14 and 15 March 2023.
Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 17 March 2023, 12:00 CET.[23]The first legs were played on 11 and 12 April, and the second legs were played on 18 and 19 April 2023.
Notes
^Order of legs reversed after original draw.
Semi-finals
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 17 March 2023, 12:00 CET, after the quarter-final draw.[23]The first legs were played on 9 and 10 May, and the second legs were played on 16 and 17 May 2023.
Final
The final was played on 10 June 2023 at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul. A draw was held on 17 March 2023, after the quarter-final and semi-final draws, to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes.[23]
Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.
Top goalscorers
Manchester City forward Erling Haaland was the tournament's top scorer with 12 goals.
Team of the season
The UEFA technical study group selected the following players as the team of the tournament.[26]
Manchester City midfielder Rodri (left) was named the Champions League Player of the Season, while Napoli forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (right) was named the Young Player of the Season.
^ a b"Rodri named 2022/23 UEFA Champions League Player of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
^ a b"Khvicha Kvaratskhelia named 2022/23 UEFA Champions League Young Player of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
^"International match calendar and access list for 2022/23". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 51/2021. Union of European Football Associations. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^"Man City win Champions League: Rodri goal secures victory against Inter and completes treble". UEFA. 10 June 2023. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
^"Man City 1–0 Inter Milan in Champions League final to claim Treble". BBC Sport. 10 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
^"Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2022/23 Season" (PDF). Nyon: UEFA. 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
^"Association coefficients 2020/21". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
^"Access list 2021–24" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
^ a b c"UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs" (Press release). Nyon: UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
^ a b"Club coefficients 2021/22". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
^"Ukraine crisis: Fifa and Uefa suspend all Russian clubs and national teams". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
^"Format change for 2020/21 UEFA Nations League". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 24 September 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
^"2022 European football calendar: Match and draw dates for all UEFA competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
^"Venues appointed for club competition finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
^"International match calendar and access list for 2022/23". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 51/2021. Union of European Football Associations. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
^Patel, Mahesh (12 January 2023). "Champions league fixtures". Lootrs. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
^UEFA.com (14 June 2022). "UEFA Champions League first qualifying round draw". UEFA.com. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
^UEFA.com (15 June 2022). "UEFA Champions League second qualifying round draw". UEFA.com. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
^UEFA.com (18 July 2022). "UEFA Champions League third qualifying round draw". UEFA.com. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
^"UEFA Champions League play-off round draw". UEFA.com. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
^"UEFA 5-year Club Ranking 2022". kassiesa.net. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
^"UEFA Champions League round of 16 draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
^ a b c"UEFA Champions League quarter-final, semi-final and final draws". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
^"Full Time Report Final – Manchester City v Internazionale" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 10 June 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
^"UEFA Champions League – Top Scorers". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
^"2022/23 UEFA Champions League Team of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League.
Celtic
Sporting CP
Chelsea
Atlético Madrid
Inter Milan
Purple: Group G; .jpg/1280px-Erling_Haaland_2023_(cropped-v2).jpg)
Rodri (
Manchester City)[1]
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (
Napoli)[2]
