The Champions League is a continental football tournament that determines the best team in European football. The recently closed previous season culminated in the victory of Real Madrid defeating Liverpool which also secured the two teams an automatic qualification in the next season.
In preparation for the next campaign, here are the things we know so far about the 2022-23 season of the Champions League.
When does the next Champions League begin?
After the coronation of the current Champions league winner on May 28, the preparations for the next season of the Champions League starts immediately.
Keep in mind that from November to December, a month-long break on worldwide club live football will be held to make way for the World Cup in Qatar this year. As a result, it is expected that the next fixture will be condensed with a lot of matches.
The qualifying stage starts from June 21 and will end on August 24. As for the group stage, the first football match will be held on September 6 and the last matchday will be held on November 2. Finally, the knockout stage will start on February 14 next year and the finals will be held on June 10.
Which teams have qualified for the next season?
As usual, the top four countries on the coefficient rankings were given four spots while the next two countries were given three spots.
The qualified teams for England are Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, the latter which also has the best betting odds. As for Spain, the qualified teams are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla.
The qualified teams for Italy are AC Milan, Inter Milan, Napoli, and Juventus. Meanwhile, the qualified teams for Germany are Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig.
France has three entries with Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Marseille, and AS Monaco. As for Portugal, their participants are Porto, Sporting CP and Benfica. The rest of the nations such as Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Austria, Scotland, Ukraine, Turkey, Denmark, and Cyprus each got two spots.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UEFA banned all Russian teams from joining any European competitions. As a result, Russia was dropped from the qualifying nations and immediately replaced by Scotland.
How are Champions League spots decided?
Annually, UEFA determines the list of qualifying teams based on the coefficient rankings of UEFA leagues. The rankings are determined every year based on the performance of the top teams in each respective domestic league.
The number of spots being given for each country for the qualifying teams are based on their positions in the rankings and football betting popularity.
What happens if the defending champions also qualify in their domestic league?
According to the rules, the defending champions of the Champions League have an automatic spot in the next season of the tournament regardless of their position in the domestic league.
In the event that the Champions League winner also qualifies via their domestic league, there will not be an additional spot opened for a team in their domestic league. Instead, a spot will be opened for the next nation on the rankings that has no entry but has odds on asian bookie forum.
How does Russia’s sanctions affect Champions League spots?
The sanctions against Russia because of their illegal invasion of Ukraine also affected the spots for the qualifying stage.
Since Russia was banned from participating in the UCL, the position was given to Scotland. Ironically, Ukraine is also next in line to be given a qualifying spot if ever the Champions League winner also qualifies domestically.
Final words
After the thrilling match between Real Madrid and Liverpool in the finals of the 2021-22 season of the Champions League, there have been a lot of changes on the preparations for the next seasons due to the delay of the World Cup and the Russian-Ukraine war.
If everything goes well, the finals for the next season will be held in June 2022 at Istanbul, Turkey.
