Draw, format, calendar & spectators

Draw

The final six of the 32 participants will be confirmed after the final whistle in Wednesday’s play-off return legs. The group phase draw will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco at 18:00 CET on Thursday 31 August. The teams will be spread across four pots. Pot one consists of the reigning champion, the UEFA Europa League winner and the champions of the six best-ranked nations; pots two to four are determined using the club coefficient ranking. BVB are back in pot two for this year’s draw. They will be drawn against an opponent from pots one, three and four respectively. The draw can be watched live on Sky Sport News and – without a subscription! – on skysport.de.

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Pots

Late on Wednesday evening, after the final whistle in the play-off matches, we will publish the probable seedings on bvb.de. The following participants are already confirmed:

Format

For the last time, 32 clubs in eight groups will complete for the 16 knockout berths. Third place will drop down to the UEFA Europa League, while fourth place will be eliminated.

Calendar

The group stage with six matchdays will begin on 19 September and end on 13 December. The knockout phase will begin in February 2024.

Matchday 1: 19/20 September 2023
Matchday 2: 03/04 October 2023
Matchday 3: 24/25 October 2023
Matchday 4: 07/08 November 2023
Matchday 5: 28/29 November 2023
Matchday 6: 12/13 December 2023

Round of 16: 13/14/20/21 February and 5/6/12/13 March 2024
Quarter-finals: 9/10 and 16/17 April 2024
Semi-finals: 30 April/1 May and 7/8 May 2024
Final: 1 June 2024

UEFA will not publish the group stage schedule on the day of the draw, as was the norm up until 2019. It is expected to be published by Saturday evening at the latest.

Spectators

UEFA is set to extend its pilot project and to continue to allow standing at international matches involving certain clubs this season too. That will mean the stadium capacity at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK shall rise to 81,365 places, rather than 66,099 seats. (br)