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Champions League draw as it happened: Newcastle in Group of Death! Man United get Bayern, Arsenal get Sevilla

It's the Champions League draw live, as Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle United are drawn in their groups

A detailed view of the draw card of Newcastle United FC ahead of the UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Group Stage Draw at Grimaldi Forum on August 31, 2023 in Monaco, Monaco.
(Image: © Valerio Pennicino - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

It's the Champions League draw live… and it begins soon.

Holders Manchester City face Leipzig and Red Star
Manchester United get Bayern and Copenhagen
Arsenal play Sevilla and PSV
Newcastle United play PSG, Dortmund and AC Milan

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Hello and welcome to the Champions League group stage draw for 2023/24! Over the next few hours, we're going to be bringing you the action as it happens, with five British clubs in the mix.

The stars are out tonight, to quote David Bowie

The pots for the draw today:

The format is changing

This is the first season in 21 years that neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo will be in a Champions League squad.

The pairings for the competition have already been drawn, meaning that these teams will play on different nights from one another:

The trophies are here

They're back – excited Gooners?

There will be no Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, N’Golo Kante, Sadio Mane or Riyad Mahrez in the Champions League this year… but maybe next year.

2023/24 Champions League outright winner: Latest odds via BitcoinCasinos.com

Newcastle United are back in the big-time. You might have heard.

The stage is set…

This is the first time since 2017/18 that Ajax have not qualified for the Champions League.

Mateo Kovacic is on a mission to double an elite club this season. 

European champions who aren’t in the Champions League this season:

Wembley Stadium will be hosting the final of the Champions League once again this season.

Making their debut in the competition are Union Berlin, who finished in the top four of the Bundesliga last season.

Arsenal fans would love to see their side get to Wembley this time around, given how good their record there is.

Erik ten Hag’s record in European competition is impressive.

It’s 60 years this year since Benfica first lost a Champions League final. It’s been a long, hard road since that.

Here’s one for trivia buffs.

Remember how Manchester City won the Champions League final last season?

A fascinating addition to the Champions League this season is French side Lens, who have qualified for the first time since 2002. 

Shakhtar Donetsk have qualified for the Champions League but, of course, will not be playing their home fixtures in Ukraine for political reasons. 

Paris Saint-Germain have completely remodelled – are they one of the favourites for the Champions League this time around?

The draw is about to get underway on TNT Sports…

It would certainly be sweet for Harry Kane to lift the Champions League on a return to London with Bayern Munich next summer.

Newcastle United will be hoping that their return to the Champions League goes a little smoother than the last time they were in the competition.

Feyenoord go straight into Pot 1 for today’s draw. 

Erling Haaland for the Champions League Golden Boot, anyone?

Pep Guardiola will be hoping to win his third Champions League final at Wembley Stadium this season.

Here are all the dates you need for the Champions League group stage: 

We're nearly ready! Here’s how many clubs get to at least the qualifiers for the Champions League.

Pedro Pinto is presenting today’s draws with Reshmin Chowdhury. Pinto is a Portuguese-American journalist who’s worked for CNN in the past and he’s been Chief of Press at UEFA for 10 years, now. Chowdhury is one of the most recognisable football presenters in Britain right now, having worked on BT Sport and ITV.

We now have a short intermission with a couple playing piano and saxophone. It's a jazzy version of the Champions League theme. 

We're finally kicking off, with some of the biggest faces in football in the room.

A reminder of the pots for the draw today:

"It was just amazing to see the players, they enjoyed that day," City Director of Football Txiki Begiristain tells Pedro Pinto "We had four semi-finals, the final at Porto but finally we got there."

Too jazzy?

Pedro and Reshmin now welcome Joe Cole and Eric Abidal to the stage for the draw.

As ever, Deputy General Secretary of UEFA, Giorgio Marchetti is assisting with today’s draws. Marchetti was previously Director of Competitions at UEFA, responsible for all youth and professional club and national competitions.

It's about to begin at last – let's go!

🇩🇪 Bayern Munich are first out of the pot

🇪🇸 Sevilla are next out of the pot – they go into Group B

🇮🇹 Napoli are in Group C

🇵🇹 Benfica in Group D

🇳🇱 Feyenoord in Group E

🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain in Group F

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester City in Group G

🇪🇸 Barcelona in Group H

Onto Pot 2…

Group F

Group B

Group E

Group A

Group G

Group D

Group H

Group C

Some huge clashes there. Now we move onto Pot 3

Group H

Group G

Group B

Group F

Group D

Group E

Group A

Group C

24 down, eight to go…

Group D

Group F

Group A

Group C

Group G

Group B

Group E

Group A

What a draw that was.

FFT's Adam Clery sums it up well as a Toon fan…

FFT's Matt Ketchell is looking forward to this group…

There were audible gasps in the room in Monaco, by the way, when Newcastle were drawn out of that group.

Agree, Arsenal fans?

It needs to be said, too, that Celtic have been given the best possible chance of progressing. They've got Feyenoord, Atletico and Lazio.

It seems unlikely – but it’s looked this week as if Real Madrid and Barcelona could yet be thrown out of the Champions League.

Newcastle don't exactly have an easy group – but how does it compare to these?

Players facing former sides this autumn in the Champions League:

Champions League finals that we'll see repeated this season:

Those groups one more time…

The dates you need for the Champions League group stage, one more time…

Thanks for joining us – we'll leave it there. See you in September for Matchday 1!

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