Seeds confirmed for 2023-24 Champions League group stage draw

Seeding for the 2023-24 Champions League season was finalized after Manchester City’s victory over Inter Milan in Saturday’s final.

Manchester City and Sevilla were placed in Pot 1 as winners of the Champions League and Europa League, respectively, while the remaining places were awarded to the winners of the top six leagues in Europe.

However, with City winning the Champions League and the Premier League this past season, Feyenoord were placed in Pot 1 as a result of the Eredivisie champion being moved up from Pot 3 to fill the vacant top-seeded spot that was reserved for the champions of England’s top flight.

The second pot is particularly interesting, as it features five teams who have previously won the Champions League. It includes 14-time winners Real Madrid and two three-time winners in Manchester United and Inter.

The remaining pots are comprised of teams based on UEFA’s coefficient score. The last two pots have vacancies that’ll be filled after the qualifying stage is complete.

The preliminary round of Champions League qualifying begins June 27 and is scheduled to finish Aug. 30. A day later, the group stage draw takes place, with one team from each pot being placed into a group of four.

The Champions League group stage kicks off Sept. 19.

Pot 1

Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Napoli (Italy), Bayern Munich (Germany), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Benfica (Portugal), Feyenoord (Netherlands)

Pot 2

Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester United (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Atletico Madrid (Spain), RB Leipzig (Germany), FC Porto (Portugal), Arsenal (England)

Pot 3

Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), FC Salzburg (Austria), AC Milan (Italy), Lazio (Italy), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)

Pot 4

Celtic (Scotland), Newcastle United (England), Union Berlin (Germany), Lens (France)