After several near misses in recent years, Pep Guardiola‘s side won the trophy for the first time when they defeated Inter Milan 1-0 in last season’s final in Istanbul in June.
Holders Manchester City and the cream of European football will learn their titleholders League fate for this season when the draw for the group stage takes place in Monaco on Thursday from 1600 GMT. After several near misses in recent times, Pep Guardiola’s side won the jewel for the first time when they defeated Inter Milan 1- 0 in last season’s final in Istanbul in June thanks to a solitary Rodri thing. They’re thus in the first pot of seeds for this season’s group phase, along with Europa League winners Sevilla as well as Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Paris Saint- Germain, Feyenoord and Benfica.
Those six clubs are, like City, the titleholders of the top ranked European nations, and the format of the draw means numerous of the brigades to avoid will thus be in the alternate pot.
That’s where record 14- time European titleholders Real Madrid– winners in 2022– lurk along with the likes of Inter and Premier League titans Arsenal and Manchester United.
The Gunners are back in Europe’s elite club competition for the first time since2016/17 after Mikel Arteta‘s side finished second behind City in England last season.
The fourth Premier League representatives are Newcastle United, who haven’t appeared in the titleholders League in two decades and will be in pot four for the draw.
That means the Babblers can anticipate to find themselves in an extremely tough group, with Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid also in pot two and AC Milan and Lazio among the third seeds.
As well as Newcastle, fresh faces in this season’s competition include Lens of France, who are also back in the titleholders League for the first time in 20 times.
Union Berlin will be appearing for the first time in their history after finishing fourth in the Bundesliga last season.
The first matches in the group stage will take place on September 19 and 20, with this season’s final being held at Wembley in London on June 1, 2024.
This will be the final season of the titleholders League in its being format, which has been in place for two decades.
Coming season will see UEFA introduce a new, expanded group stage featuring 36 brigades, over from the current 32, with everyone playing eight matches rather of the current six in a format known as the” Swiss system”.
The titleholders League is the zenith of club football on the mainland and that’s reflected in the prize plutocrat, with UEFA distributing two billion euros ($2.19 billion) in aggregate to sharing clubs.
Just being in the group stage is worth15.64 million euros, with each palm adding a farther2.8 million euros.
The platoon that goes on to win the jewel will pocket further than 50 million euros on top of that, just in prize plutocrat.
Brigades also admit plutocrat grounded on their own position in UEFA’s club ranking– this means that Real Madrid get over 36 million euros as the top- ranked side, with the quantum dropping precipitously so the smallest- ranked platoon admit only just over one million euros.
The fete event in Monaco will also see European football’s governing body dish out their awards for last season, with City stars Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland up for the men’s player of the time prize.
They’re joined on the three- man shortlist by Lionel Messi, who’s now at Inter Miami after leaving PSG in June.
Spain’s World Cup- winning stars Aitana Bonmati and Olga Carmona are nominated to succeed their teammate Alexia Putellas as winner of the women’s prize, along with Sam Kerr of Australia and Chelsea. Know More Latest Football News…
