Champions League group stage draw date, time and pots as Arsenal await return

Arsenal return to the Champions League for the first time since 2017 this season after finishing second in the Premier League last term

Champions League football is back at the Emirates Stadium this season for the first time in seven years.

Arsenal will be hoping for a favourable draw in the group stage in order to progress to the knockout stages. Manchester City, Manchester United and Newcastle will all be hoping for a better draw ahead of another eye-watering campaign.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2023/24 Champions League group stage draw...

The 2023/24 Champions League group stage draw will take place on Thursday, August 31, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The draw will take place at 5pm and will be streamed on UEFA.com.

There will be 32 teams in the draw, 26 of whom qualified for the group stage automatically and six play-off winners, whose identity will be confirmed on August 29 and 30.

Before the draw takes place, teams are then split into four seeding pots.

In pot 1 will be the holders (Man City), Europa League winners (Seville) and the domestic champions of England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Portugal. As Man City won the Champions League and Premier League, the final place in pot 1 was given to Feyenoord, the champions of the Netherlands.

Then, pots 2-4 are based on club coefficient rankings (past performances in UEFA competitions).

From there, each group will draw a team from each pot.

No club can draw a team from their own association. For example, Arsenal could not be drawn in the same group as Man United, Man City or Newcastle.

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:

Shakhtar Donetsk, Red Bull Salzburg, AC Milan, Lazio, Red Star Belgrade

Pot 4:

Newcastle, Union Berlin, RC Lens

* There are six places left to be decided. The second legs of the play-off rounds take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. The teams are: AEK Athens/Antwerp, Copenhagen/Rakow, Galatasaray/Molde, Panathinaikos/Braga, PSV/Rangers, Young Boys/Maccabi Haifa.

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

Round of 16: 13/14 & 20/21 February and 5/6 & 12/3 March 2024