RBL’s opponents in the Champions League group stages

admin tarafından yayınlandı

1 September 2023, 08:15 yayınlandı

RBL’s opponents in the Champions League group stage have been confirmed.

There are several exciting games ahead of them in Group G of the 2023/24 Champions League season.

The draw on Thursday evening in Monaco revealed that RBL would be taking on Manchester City, Red Star Belgrade and BSC Young Boys in the group stage of the Champions League.

Matchday 1 of this season’s Champions League group stage will take place on 19th/20th September. The sixth and final matchday will take place in the middle of December (12th/13th December). The exact dates of these fixtures will be announced shortly.

Group stage opponents

Manchester City

RBL will meet the reigning Champions League winners for the second time in the group stages. Both teams previously played in the group stages in 2021/22 (6-3 loss at home, 2-1 loss away). Last season, Pep Guardiola’s side were our opponents in the last 16 (1-1 draw at home, 7-0 loss away). As well as winning the Champions League last season, the Citizens completed a treble winning both the Premier League and FA Cup.
This will also mean another meeting with Josko Gvardiol. The Croatia international moved to England after two years at RBL in the summer.

Players to watch

➙ Erling Haaland

➙ Kevin De Bruyne

➙ Rodrigo

Red Star Belgrade

Red Star are 13-time Serbian champions and are competing in the Champions League group stages for the second time. Former Leverkusen defender Aleksander Dragovic is a constant fixture at centre-back and they are coached by Barak Bakhar.

Players to watch

➙ Peter Olayinka

➙ Osman Bukari

➙ Jean-Philippe Krasso

BSC Young Boys

The reigning Swiss champions reached the Champions League having beaten Maccabi Haifa in Champions League qualifying. In the last few years, the club has been highly successful, winning the league five times in the last six years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023).
Young Boys’ head coach is a familiar face to those in the Bundesliga, with Rapahel Wicky having played for Hamburger SV from 2001 until 2007. In his first season at Young Boys’ head coach, he celebrated a league and cup double, winning the Swiss Super League and Swiss Cup. Former Hertha BSC player defender Fabian Lustenberger is club captain. Former VfL Bochum striker Silvere Ganvoula joined the club in the summer.

Players to watch

➙ Darian Males

➙ Cedric Itten

➙ Jean-Pierre Nsame

Max Eberl

“It is a hattrick against Manchester City – we will be playing them for the third time in a row. We want to test ourselves against the best teams, and in Man City one of the best teams in Europe at the moment awaits us.
This meeting has a nice sidenote because we will a nice opportunity to give Josko Gvardiol a proper send-off.
“In Red Star and Young Boys, two exciting teams await us – we are looking forward to both of these games, but it is also obvious that we want to win against both of these teams.”

Overview of the other groups

Group A

➙ FC Bayern Munich

➙ Manchester United

➙ FC Kopenhagen

➙ Galatasaray SK

Group B

➙ FC Sevilla

➙ Arsenal FC

➙ PSV Eindhoven

➙ RC Lens

Group C

➙ SSC Napoli

➙ Real Madrid

➙ SC Braga

➙ Union Berlin

Group D

➙ SL Benfica

➙ Inter Milan

➙ FC Salzburg

➙ Real Sociedad

Group E

➙ Feyenoord

➙ Atlético Madrid

➙ SS Lazio

➙ Celtic FC

Group F

➙ Paris St. Germain

➙ Borussia Dortmund

➙ AC Milan

➙ Newcastle United

Group H

➙ FC Barcelona

➙ FC Porto

➙ Shakhtar Donetsk

➙ Royal Antwerp

THE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Matchday 1: 19th/20th September
Matchday 2: 3rd/4th October
Matchday 3: 24th/25th October
Matchday 4: 7th/8th November
Matchday 5: 28th/29th November
Matchday 6: 12th/13th December
Round of 16: First legs: 13th-21st February/Second legs: 5th-13th March
Quarter-finals: First legs: 9th-10th April/Second legs: 16th-17th April
Semi-finals: First legs: 30th April/1st May/Second legs: 7th-8th May
Final in London: 1st June

An emotional 2022/23 UCL season

RBL qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League for the third time in the club’s history in 2022/23, facing an English side in the Round of 16 for a second time. 2020/21 saw the team knocked out by Liverpool, whilst this season they were eliminated by eventual finalists Manchester City.

Despite the exit, we are able to look back with pride at the side’s exploits on the international stage. Following a shaky start to the group stage, the Leipzig boys found their form and went on something of a winning run. We celebrated four fantastic wins, including an unforgettable 3-2 victory over Real Madrid, took a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Round of 16 tie against Manchester City, and were defeated three times.

From eight games, we…

…scored 14 goals
…scored 1.75 goals per game
…completed a brilliant 87% of our passes

We are looking forward to competing on the biggest stage in club football and hoping to create more magic moments in next season’s UEFA Champions League!