The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League was the 68th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final was played at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, on 10 June 2023. The stadium was originally appointed to host the 2020 UEFA Champions League final, but both this and the 2021 editions, which had been subsequently re-allocated to the Atatürk, were moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023 final was contested by English club Manchester City and Italian club Inter Milan, with the former winning 1–0 via a second-half goal by Rodri, who was named man of the match by UEFA. For Manchester City, this was their first-ever European Cup, and first European trophy since 1970. Having earlier won the Premier league and FA Cup titles, they achieved a continental treble. As winners, Manchester City earned the right to play against Sevilla, the winners of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League, in the 2023 UEFA Super Cup, as well as qualifying for both the 2023 and 2025 FIFA Club World Cups in Saudi Arabia and the United States, respectively.
Real Madrid were the defending champions, having won a record-extending fourteenth European Cup title in the previous edition, but they were eliminated by eventual champions Manchester City in the semi-finals.
Association team allocation A total of 78 teams from 53 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions being Russia, who were banned from participating due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Liechtenstein, which did not organise a domestic league). The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association: Associations 1–4 each had four teams qualify. Associations 5–6 each had three teams qualify. Associations 7–15 (except Russia) each had two teams qualify. Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein) each had one team qualify. The winners of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League and 2021–22 UEFA Europa League were each given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league.
Association ranking For the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2021 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2016–17 to 2020–21.
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below: – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
+Association ranking for 2022–23 UEFA Champions LeagueRankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes1100.5694297.855375.438473.570556.0813648.549739.2002838.382 0936.50021035.8251133.3751233.1001330.1001427.8751527.7501626.75011726.6001826.2751926.225RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes2026.00012124.3752221.0002320.5002420.3752518.2002616.8752715.6252815.5002915.2503015.1253114.2503213.625339.0000348.7501358.250368.000377.875387.625RankAssociationCoeff.TeamsNotes397.3751407.375417.250426.958436.875446.875456.875466.375476.125485.833495.666505.000515.000524.875534.750543.331551.166
Distribution The following is the access list for this season.
+Access list for 2022–23 UEFA Champions LeagueTeams entering in this roundTeams advancing from previous roundPreliminary round(4 teams)4 champions from associations 52–55First qualifying round(30 teams)29 champions from associations 22–51 (except Liechtenstein)1 winner from the preliminary roundSecond qualifying round(24 teams) Champions Path(20 teams)5 champions from associations 17–2115 winners from the first qualifying roundLeague Path(4 teams)4 runners-up from associations 12–15Third qualifying round(20 teams)Champions Path(12 teams)2 champions from associations 15–1610 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path)League Path(8 teams)4 runners-up from associations 7–11 (except Russia) 2 third-placed teams from associations 5–62 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)Play-off round(12 teams)Champions Path(8 teams)2 champions from associations 13–146 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path)League Path(4 teams)4 winners from the third qualifying round (League Path)Group stage(32 teams)Europa League title holder 11 champions from associations 1–12 (except Russia) 6 runners-up from associations 1–6 4 third-placed teams from associations 1–4 4 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–44 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path) 2 winners from the play-off round (League Path)Knockout phase(16 teams)8 group winners from the group stage 8 group runners-up from the group stage
Due to the suspension of Russia for the 2022–23 European season, the following changes to the access list were made:
The champions of association 11 (Scotland) enter the group stage instead of the play-off round (Champions Path). The champions of association 13 (Turkey) enter the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round (Champions Path). The champions of association 15 (Cyprus) enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round (Champions Path). The champions of associations 18 (Croatia) and 19 (Switzerland) enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round (Champions Path). The runners-up of associations 10 (Austria) and 11 (Scotland) enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round (League Path).
Since the Champions League title holders (Real Madrid) qualified via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list were made:
The champions of association 12 (Ukraine) enter the group stage instead of the play-off round (Champions Path). The champions of association 14 (Denmark) enter the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round (Champions Path). The champions of association 16 (Serbia) enter the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round (Champions Path). The champions of associations 20 (Greece) and 21 (Israel) enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round (Champions Path).
Teams The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round: TH: Champions League title holders EL: Europa League title holders 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.: League positions of the previous season Abd-: League positions of abandoned season as determined by the national association; all teams were subject to approval by UEFA
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP).
+Qualified teams for 2022–23 UEFA Champions LeagueEntry roundTeamsGroup stage Real Madrid TH Eintracht Frankfurt Manchester City Liverpool Chelsea Tottenham Hotspur Barcelona Atlético Madrid Sevilla Milan Inter Milan Napoli Juventus Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Bayer Leverkusen RB Leipzig Paris Saint-Germain Marseille Porto Sporting CP Ajax Club Brugge Red Bull Salzburg Celtic Shakhtar Donetsk Play-off round Trabzonspor Copenhagen Third qualifying round Apollon Limassol Red Star Belgrade Monaco Benfica PSV Eindhoven Union Saint-Gilloise Sturm Graz Rangers Second qualifying round Viktoria Plzeň Dinamo Zagreb Zürich Olympiacos Maccabi Haifa Dynamo Kyiv Fenerbahçe Midtjylland AEK Larnaca First qualifying round Bodø/Glimt Malmö FF Ludogorets Razgrad CFR Cluj Qarabağ Tobol Ferencváros Shakhtyor Soligorsk Lech Poznań Maribor Slovan Bratislava Žalgiris F91 Dudelange Zrinjski Mostar Shamrock Rovers Shkupi Pyunik RFS Tirana Linfield Dinamo Batumi HJK Sheriff Tiraspol Hibernians KÍ Ballkani Lincoln Red Imps Sutjeska The New Saints Preliminary round Víkingur Reykjavík FCI Levadia Inter Club d'Escaldes La Fiorita Notes
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows. All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the preliminary round final and the final. Scheduled kick-off times starting from the play-off round were 18:45 and 21:00 CEST/CET.
As the 2022 FIFA World Cup took place in Qatar between 20 November and 18 December 2022, the group stage commenced in the first week of September 2022 and concluded in the first week of November 2022 to make way for the World Cup.
The draws for the qualifying round started at 12:00 CEST/CET and were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. The group stage draw took place in Istanbul, Turkey.
+Schedule for 2022–23 UEFA Champions LeaguePhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingPreliminary round7 June 202221 June 2022 (semi-finals)24 June 2022 (final)First qualifying round14 June 20225–6 July 202212–13 July 2022Second qualifying round15 June 202219–20 July 202226–27 July 2022Third qualifying round18 July 20222–3 August 20229 August 2022Play-offsPlay-off round2 August 202216–17 August 202223–24 August 2022Group stageMatchday 125 August 20226–7 September 2022Matchday 213–14 September 2022Matchday 34–5 October 2022Matchday 411–12 October 2022Matchday 525–26 October 2022Matchday 61–2 November 2022Knockout phaseRound of 167 November 202214–15 & 21–22 February 20237–8 & 14–15 March 2023Quarter-finals17 March 202311–12 April 202318–19 April 2023Semi-finals9–10 May 202316–17 May 2023Final10 June 2023 at Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul
Qualifying rounds
Preliminary round
First qualifying round
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 25 August 2022. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots, each of eight teams, based on the following principles:
Pot 1 contained the Champions League and Europa League title holders, and the champions of the top six associations based on their 2021 UEFA country coefficients. Since the Champions League title holders, Real Madrid, were also the champions of Association 2 (Spain), the champions of Association 7 (Netherlands), Ajax, were seeded into Pot 1. Pots 2, 3 and 4 contained the remaining teams, seeded based on their 2022 UEFA club coefficients.
Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
Eintracht Frankfurt made their debut appearance in the group stage (and first appearance in the European Cup since their loss in the 1960 final) after winning the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League and, as a result, this was the first time that five German clubs played in the group stage.
A total of 15 national associations were represented in the group stage. This season was the first since the 1995–96 edition in which a Turkish side failed to qualify for the group stage. It was also the first time since the 2007–08 season that two Scottish sides qualified for the group stage.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.
Bracket
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Statistics Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerTeamGoalsMinutes played1 Erling Haaland Manchester City128452 Mohamed Salah Liverpool86243 Kylian Mbappé Paris Saint-Germain7651 Vinícius Júnior Real Madrid9755 João Mário Benfica68656 Victor Osimhen Napoli5424 Robert Lewandowski Barcelona442 Mehdi Taremi Porto613 Rodrygo Real Madrid824 Rafa Silva Benfica826 Olivier Giroud Milan939
Team of the season The UEFA technical study group selected the following players as the team of the tournament.