A first in the Champions League: Together with Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig plus Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt there are five German clubs in the Champions League for the first time. Bayer 04 are in Pot 3.
In addition, for the first time in 25 years UEFA are again allowing the sale of standing tickets for the matches in their international club competitions of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League as part of a pilot project in Germany, England and France.
As usual, 32 clubs will start the Champions League campaign in 2022/23 with eight groups of four teams. The make up of the groups is determined by all the teams being placed in four draw pots. Pot 1 has holders Real Madrid, the winners of the UEFA Europa league Eintracht Frankfurt and the champions from the sixth highest rated leagues who have not qualified by winning one of the titles in 2021/22. This year that is Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Ajax.
Pots 2 to 4 are determined by the club coefficient rankings. Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Sevilla and RB Leipzig are in Pot 2. Alongside Bayer 04 in Pot 3 are Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Napoli, FC Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting CP and Benfica. The clubs in Pot 4 are Club Brugge, Celtic, Marseille, Dinamo Zagreb, Rangers, FC Copenhagen,Viktoria Plzeň and Maccabi Haifa.
The draw for the group stage of the Champions League campaign of 2022/23 is being held today, Thursday 25 August, in Istanbul from 18.00 CEST. There will be live and free coverage to see which clubs the Werkself will face on TV at Sky Sports News as well as on the broadcaster's website.
The composition of the groups of four is drawn with one club from each pot. The Seoane team can look forward to playing one of the big teams in Europe through being placed in Pot 3. It is worth remembering that no team in the group stage can play another club from the same country. That means the Werkself will not play any of the other clubs from Germany's top flight in the group stage.
Champions League timetable:
There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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Bayer 04 go into the first of two successive clashes with Borussia Dortmund boosted by their Champions League win at Manchester City. Ahead of the Bundesliga top match on Saturday, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the tight schedule, BVB's strengths and returning squad members.
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Borussia Dortmund are doing very well in terms of points and results in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. BVB have only suffered two defeats to date this term. Now coach Niko Kovac's team are away to the Werkself on Saturday night, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET) in the top match on Bundesliga matchday 12. The two teams meet again three days later in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie in Dortmund. Two very competitive encounters are on the cards. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Bayer 04 Women clcoked up a 3-2 win in a friendly against Twente Enschede on Thursday afternoon in the last international break of 2025. In drizzle, Lilla Turanyi (16’), Kristin Kögel (65’) and Paulina Bartz (69’) scored the goals for the Werkself against the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen leaders, who are still unbeaten in the league.
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