The 2021-22 Champions League looks all set for a thrilling climax, but for many clubs thoughts are already beginning to turn to next year’s competition.
With four teams still in the hunt ahead of this season’s semifinals, it’s time to take a look at how next year’s competition will be constructed.
There are a lot of questions still to be answered, but a lot is already known as well.
Manchester City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Villarreal are the teams left in the competition this season. Three of those teams have already confirmed a place in next year’s tournament too, based solely on their domestic league table position, while Villarreal could also confirm their place in the 2022-23 edition by lifting this season’s trophy.
Here Sporting News brings you everything you need to know to get ready for the 2022-23 Champions League.
MORE: All 32 teams that participated in the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League
When does the 2022-23 Champions League start?
Once this year’s Champions League winner is crowned on May 28, the planning for next season’s competition begins almost immediately.
Remember, a worldwide club football break is being taken from late November through to late December, to make room for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
That will condense the schedule and push matches on all fronts back later than usual.
Champions League 2022-23 key dates
Qualifying Stages
- Preliminary round semifinals: June 21, 2022
- Preliminary round final: June 24, 2022
- First qualifying round: July 5-6 (1st Leg) & July 12-13 (2nd Leg)
- Second qualifying round: July 19-20 (1st Leg) & July 26-27 (2nd Leg)
- Third qualifying round: Aug. 2-3 (1st Leg) & Aug. 9 (2nd Leg)
- Playoffs: Aug. 16-17 (1st Leg), Aug. 23-24 (2nd Leg)
Group stage (32 teams):
- Matchday 1: Sept. 6-7, 2022
- Matchday 2: Sept. 13-14, 2022
- Matchday 3: Oct. 4-5, 2022
- Matchday 4: Oct. 11-12, 2022
- Matchday 5: Oct. 25-26, 2022
- Matchday 6: Nov. 1-2, 2022
Knockout phase (played in 2023):
- Round of 16: Feb. 14, 15, 21, 22 (1st Leg) & March 7, 8, 14, 15 (2nd Legs)
- Quarterfinals: April 11-12 (1st Leg) & April 18-19 (2nd Leg)
- Semi-finals: May 9-10 (1st Leg), & May 16-17 (2nd Leg)
- Final: June 10
MORE: When and where is the 2023 Champions League final?
When are the 2022-23 Champions League draws?
The draw schedule for next season’s competition begins in June, just 10 days after the 2021-22 final is held in Saint-Denis, France.
Champions League 2022-23 draws
- Preliminary round: June 7, 2022
- First qualifying round: June 14, 2022
- Second qualifying round: June 15, 2022
- Third qualifying round: July 18, 2022
- Playoff round: Aug. 2, 2022
- Group stage: Aug. 25, 2022
- Round of 16: Nov. 7, 2022
- Quarterfinals and semifinals: TBC
Which teams have qualified for the 2022-23 Champions League?
Here are all the countries with multiple teams in the Champions League in 2022-23.
All other European countries not listed have just one place, reserved for the domestic league champion.
2022-23 Champions League teams by nation
Countries listed in order of UEFA coefficient
| Nation | Team 1 | Team 2 | Team 3 | Team 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | Man City | Liverpool | TBD | TBD |
| Spain | Real Madrid | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Italy | AC Milan | Inter Milan | TBD | TBD |
| Germany | Bayern Munich | Borussia Dortmund | TBD | TBD |
| France | Paris Saint-Germain | TBD | TBD** | — |
| Portugal | Porto | Sporting CP/TBD | Sporting CP/TBD** | — |
| Netherlands | Ajax/TBD | Ajax/TBD** | — | — |
| Belgium | TBD | TBD** | — | — |
| Austria | RB Salzburg | Sturm Graz*** | — | — |
| Scotland | Celtic/Rangers* | Celtic/Rangers*** | — | — |
| Ukraine | Shakhtar Donetsk* | Dynamo Kyiv*** | — | — |
| Turkey | Trabzonspor** | TBD*** | — | — |
| Denmark | TBD** | TBD*** | — | — |
| Cyprus | TBD*** | TBD*** | — | — |
* = Team entering in playoff round
** = Team entering in 3rd qualifying round
*** = Team entering in 2nd qualifying round
**** = Team entering in 1st qualifying round
***** = Team entering in preliminary round
† Russian teams have been indefinitely banned from European competition. On May 2, UEFA announced that Russian clubs were banned from participation in all UEFA competitions for 2022-23.
MORE: Champions League top goalscorers 2021-22: Updated rankings
How Champions League places are determined
Every year, UEFA shuffles the deck using updated UEFA league coefficient rankings.
These rankings are calculated each year based on how teams from each domestic league perform in the Champions League in recent history.
The table above is listed in order of UEFA coefficient. It is no surprise that England is the top-ranked league, with an English club winning two of the last three titles through 2020-21, and seeing four different clubs reach the final across the last three competitions.
Spain, Italy, and Germany round out the top four, and each of those leagues earn four Champions League places.
Nations ranked No. 5 and No. 6, France and Portugal in the upcoming edition, earn three places, while leagues No. 7 through No. 15 earn two.
The individual coefficient ranking within those sectors determine what stage each team enters into.
What happens if the Champions League winners also qualify for next season via their domestic league placing?
The Champions League winners are guaranteed a place in next year’s competition regardless of their domestic league finish.
This year, the 2021-22 semifinals already consist of three teams — Manchester City, Liverpool, and Real Madrid — who have already qualified for 2022-23 via their respective domestic leagues.
Villarreal are the only team left this year who haven’t booked a return visit next season via their domestic league finish, and they likely won’t finish in the top four in Spain. So, should Villarreal win the 2021-22 Champions League, then Spain would have five teams in next year’s competition — the top four finishers in the domestic league, plus Villarreal as defending champions.
But if Real, Liverpool or City win this year, their country does not receive an extra spot. Instead, the highest-ranked nation without a club in the group stage would be bumped up, and their champions would go directly through to the groups.
This year, that league is Ukraine*, meaning Shakhtar Donetsk, who was awarded the league title by the Ukrainian FA after the abandonment of the league season, would be handed a group stage place, instead of entering at the playoff round. They will be rooting for Real, Liverpool or City to win it all.
In that scenario, the rest of the competition is reconfigured in the same way, with each highest-ranked nation without a berth bumped up to a higher round.
For example, that would see the Danish champion moved into the playoff round to take Shakhtar’s place, with the champions of Serbia jumping into the third qualifying round, and the Greek champions bumped into the second qualifying round.
The preliminary round wouldn’t be reconfigured, as there are only four teams, and the removal of one would unbalance the schedule.
UEFA’s regulations don’t indicate that the additional Champions League berth would be filled. That seems to suggest that one less team would enter the competition in this instance.
There are 79 teams guaranteed to play in the Champions League. That figure becomes 80 if the previous season’s winner doesn’t qualify domestically.
If UEFA did decide to fill that 80th slot regardless, it would likely go to the second-place finisher in the Serbian league, currently the highest-ranking league on coefficient with just a single Champions League place.
* Initially, this nation was Scotland, but with the banning of Russian clubs from competition, Scotland was bumped up to receive an automatic place in the group stage, moving Ukraine next in line for promotion in this scenario.
How does Russia’s ban affect Champions League places?
It’s possible that a further reshuffle will be required for next season’s competition.
Due to the war in Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA announced in February that Russia would be indefinitely banned from competition on both an international and a club level. On May 2, UEFA announced that Russian clubs were disqualified from competing in the 2022-23 editions of all European tournaments.
“Russia will have no affiliated clubs participating in UEFA club competitions in the 2022/23 season. Consequently, the respective access lists of the men’s and women’s club competitions have been rebalanced in accordance with the principles set out in the relevant competition regulations.”
With Russia’s two slots vacated, it leaves one gap in the group stage and one gap in the third qualifying round. The group stage place will be filled by the highest-ranking qualifier left in the playoff round, Scotland’s league champion.
That, ironically enough, means that Ukraine would be the biggest beneficiary of Russia’s exclusion. Scotland’s league champion was likely to earn a group stage place anyways due to the likely scenario of the title winner also qualifying directly via league position. Therefore, the next-highest ranked nation would earn a group stage place as well, with Ukraine in that position.
Ukraine’s own places in the competition took some resolving, as the league was suspended on February 24 due to the war, and was officially abandoned on April 26. The Ukrainian Football League decided to award its two Champions League places to the top two teams in the table as of the suspension of the league, with Shakhtar Donetsk in first and Dynamo Kyiv in second.
Here is the rebalanced qualification format with Russian clubs out.
Scotland is now guaranteed to have a group stage spot, and the next-highest ranked nation – Ukraine – will also get a group stage spot unless this year’s winner doesn’t qualify directly by league. pic.twitter.com/UN5uZ6tqVO
— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) May 2, 2022
Where is the 2022-23 Champions League final?
Once all that is worked out, the 2022-23 competition will finally be able to get under way, and all roads will lead to Turkey.
The 2022-23 final is due to be played at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul, a place which hold special memories for Liverpool.
The venue was the location for their famous 2005 Champions League triumph, where they fought back from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan.