Champions League group stage: Draw date, who Man United can face, fixture dates

Manchester United return to Champions League action this term after their third-place Premier League finish last season.

The Reds earned their place in Europe’s elite competition and are awaiting the group stage draw to see who they will be facing in the initial stages of the Champions League tournament.

Erik ten Hag will be excited to compete against some of the best teams across the continent. Despite losing against Sevilla in the Europa League quarter-finals last season, an earlier knockout win against Barcelona was a highlight of the whole campaign for United.

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United’s last time in the competition saw them lose in the round of 16 against Atletico Madrid during the 2021/22 campaign.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the 2023/24 Champions League group stage draw.

Location, Date & Time: 2023/24 Champions League group stage draw

The group stage draw for the 2023/24 Champions League will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, France and will begin at 17:00 BST on Thursday 31 August – although these events usually take their sweet time to get the main event, so the timing could be slightly delayed.

It will also be live-streamed directly on UEFA.com – Updates on Manchester United’s group will also come through live on UtdDistrict’s X account.

How the 2023/24 Champions League group stage draw works

There are 32 teams in total that will be placed into different groups – 26 of those have automatically qualified for the competition with the six remaining slots coming from qualification stages.

There are four different pots, with no team being able to face up against a team in the same pot during the group stages. Pot 1 includes the champions of England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Portugal, as well as the winners of the Champions League and Europa League from the prior season.

Meanwhile, pots 2-4 are based on UEFA club coefficient ranks, which are based on each club’s past performance in UEFA competitions. United are in pot 2 for the draw.

It should also be noted that the only time that a team is not able to be drawn against another team from a different pot in the group stages is if they are from the same country. For example, United are unable to play against Manchester City, Arsenal or Newcastle in the group stages.

The 2023/24 Champions League pots

Whilst there are still six remaining teams to enter the pots, the following teams have been confirmed in their respective pots:

Pot 1:

Man City, Sevilla, Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Feyenoord

Pot 2:

Arsenal, Real Madrid, Man United, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, Porto

Pot 3:

AC Milan, Braga, FC Copenhagen, Lazio, PSV, Red Star Belgrade, Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk

Pot 4:

Celtic, Galatasaray, Newcastle United, RC Lens, Real Sociedad, Royal Antwerp, Union Berlin, Young Boys.

When are the 2023/24 Champions League group stage fixtures?

Following on from the draw, supporters will be eagerly awaiting their team’s Champions League fixtures.

In groups of four, each team will play every team in their group twice – once at home and once away. The top two teams in each group will qualify, with third-place outfits being demoted to the Europa League knockout round play-offs.

Matchday 1: 19/20 September

Matchday 2: 3/4 October

Matchday 3: 24/25 October

Matchday 4: 7/8 November

Matchday 5: 28/29 November

Matchday 6: 12/13 December