Find out how the Champions League draw pots work and what the pots will be for the 2022/23 Champions League group stage draw.

The Champions League draw isn’t as simple as drawing the teams out of a bowl. There is a procedure to it that includes putting all the teams into separate pots.

This is so you get, in theory, evenly matched groups with no two league champions being put together with two teams that fought their way in through the qualifiers to get there.

Keep reading to find out how the pots work and what the pots for the Champions League draw will be this year.

How do the Champions League pots work?

As briefly explained before, the Champions League pots are used to ensure more balanced groups, although every year there is always the dreaded group of death - a group where every team drawn is a threat to each other and could make it through to the knockout rounds.

The teams in each pot cannot be drawn into a group with a team from the same pot. To avoid this ever happening, the draw is done in order so that they start by drawing all the teams in the first pot into the groups, then proceed with the teams in the second pot once all the ones in the first pot are drawn.

And of course, one of the biggest rules of the Champions League group stage draw: no two teams from the same league can be drawn in the same group.

How are Champions League group stage pots decided?

There are four pots with eight teams in each pot.

Pot 1 is for the league champions from Europe’s top six divisions - English Premier League, German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, and Portuguese Primeira Liga - and the current winners of the Champions League and Europa League.

Pots 2, 3 and 4 are then filled according to the teams’ UEFA club coefficient ranking - essentially how well each team has done in European competitions over the last five seasons.

In Pot 2, you will usually find the teams who finished second or third in the league, depending on how they have done in Europe in the last five seasons.

This can also apply to Pots 3 and 4. However, spots in these ones, particularly in Pot 4, are filled through the Champions League qualifiers.

In the case of Real Madrid, Liverpool and Ajax, since Real won the La Liga, the spot in pot 1 would have gone to Liverpool should they have won the Champions League over Real Madrid.

However, with their loss, and subsequently not winning the Premier League, Real’s extra Pot 1 spot went to Ajax, the Dutch Eredivisie champions, as that league is the seventh-ranked European league.

What are the pots for the Champions League draw?

With the Champions League qualifiers now finished, the full 32-team line-up for this years competition is finalised and the pots are complete. They go as such:

Pot 1

  • Real Madrid (Spain)
  • Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
  • Manchester City (England)
  • Bayern Munich (Germany)
  • Ajax (Netherlands)
  • Paris Saint-Germain (France)
  • AC Milan (Italy)
  • Porto (Portugal)

Pot 2

  • Liverpool (England)
  • Tottenham Hotspur (England)
  • Chelsea (England)
  • Barcelona (Spain)
  • Sevilla (Spain)
  • Atletico Madrid (Spain)
  • Juventus (Italy)
  • RB Leipzig (Germany)

Pot 3

  • Inter Milan (Italy)
  • Napoli (Italy)
  • Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
  • Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
  • Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
  • Benfica (Portugal)
  • Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
  • Red Bull Salzburg (Austria)

Pot 4

  • Marseille (France)
  • Celtic (Scotland)
  • Rangers (Scotland)
  • Club Brugge (Belgium)
  • Maccabi Haifa (Israel)
  • Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
  • Dinamo Zagred (Croatia)
  • Copenhagen (Denmark)

When is the Champions League draw?

The Champions League draw will take place on Thursday 25th August.

That is a day after the Champions League qualifiers will have concluded, so the remaining six teams will be decided and the pots will be full, ready for the draw.

For more information on the Champions League 2022/23 competition, qualifiers, key dates, draw information, and the final venue, check out our article; When does the Champions League start? Fixtures, Dates and Finals Info.

At Seat Unique, we provide you with official hospitality tickets to select Champions League matches, including Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool this season.

Be sure to buy through us to make sure you are part of the crowd for your team’s Champions League campaign.