In the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage, Liverpool will face Ajax, Napoli, and Rangers.
The group stage draws of the UEFA Champions League for the upcoming season were done on Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey. Teams were divided into four pots and one team from each of the pots was then drawn into the eight groups, A–H, the 1st pot was for the European and domestic champions from the top 6 leagues, and the remaining teams were arranged in the pots according to their UEFA Rankings. Which made Liverpool the first team on pot 2.
Clubs in Pot 2 along with Liverpool were Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico, Sevilla, RB Leipzig and Tottenham.
The draws turned out to be interesting for some of the former players of their respective clubs. Bayern Munich was drawn into a group with Barcelona and Inter Milan, while Liverpool and Manchester City were given comparatively easy starts to their campaigns.
Champions League draw
Liverpool steps into their sixth successive season in the competition and they have reached three finals under Klopp in the last 5 seasons. After a 1 – 0 defeat against Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League Finals. Liverpool will try to complete what they missed last season.
Thus, now the first hurdle for the 7th European glory is revealed as Liverpool was drawn in Group A along with Ajax, Napoli and Rangers. With the campaign starting early next month.
Ajax were Liverpool’s group-stage opponents in 2020, but due to the pandemic, the two games were played behind closed doors, and Klopp’s side won both by a 1-0 margin.
Meanwhile, Napoli is no strangers to the Reds, having met in the group stages in both 2018/19 and 2019/20 – a team that has not been kind to us, inflicting two defeats and a draw in those four games. And for the first time, Liverpool will make the trip to Rangers for a competitive fixture
Due to the World Cup, this season the fixtures have been changed.
Liverpool 2022/23 UCL Fixture dates
- Matchday 1: September 6/7
- Matchday 2: September 13/14
- Matchday 3: October 4/5
- Matchday 4: October 11/12
- Matchday 5: October 25/26
- Matchday 6: November 1/2
Meanwhile, not every player gets to play against his former club in the first season after leaving the club. However, this season two players will face their former clubs in the group season. Robert Lewandowski will face Bayern Munich his former club as Barcelona is drawn in Group C along with Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan. On the other hand, Erling Haaland will face his former club Borussia Dortmund as Manchester city is drawn with Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla.
Full Champions League group stage draws
A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers
B: Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge
C: Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen
D: Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sporting CP, Marseille
E: AC Milan, Chelsea, Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb
F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic
G: Man City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Copenhagen
H: Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa
