international football club competition in Europe From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage ran from September 6 to November 2, 2022. It had 32 teams competing to find the top 16 for the next round. Eintracht Frankfurt, who won the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, joined for the first time since 1960. It was also the first time five German clubs played in this stage. Teams from 15 different countries were in the mix. For the first time since 1995–96, no Turkish team made it to this stage. Additionally, two Scottish teams made it for the first time since 2007–08. Notably, both the eventual Champions League winners, Manchester City, and the Europa League winners, Sevilla, were in the same group (Group G) this year.
The schedule for the matches was announced on August 27, 2022, which was two days after the draw.[1] The matches were played on the following dates: September 6–7, September 13–14, October 4–5, October 11–12, October 25–26, and November 1–2, 2022. The matches had different starting times. On each match day, two games began at 6:45 PM, and the remaining six games started at 9:00 PM CET/CEST. These times are according to UEFA.[note 1]
The Rangers v Napoli match, originally scheduled to be played on 13 September 2022, 21:00 (20:00 BST), was rescheduled to the following day at the same hour due to conditions related to the death of Elizabeth II.[4]
The Marseille v Sporting CP match, originally scheduled to be played at 18:45, was delayed to 19:05 after the bus carrying the visiting team’s players was caught in traffic and arrived late at the stadium.[10]
Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian teams were required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[16] Therefore, Shakhtar Donetsk played at Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland, instead of their regular stadium Donbas Arena, Donetsk.[17]