Eintracht Frankfurt’s 5-4 penalty shootout victory over Rangers not only made them the first German team to win the UEFA Europa League or UEFA Cup since 1997, but also earned the Eagles a place in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. The 2022/23 campaign will be the first season in which the Bundesliga has had five clubs competing in the competition.
While the full list of participating teams for the 68th edition of Europe’s premier club tournament has yet to be determined, certain key dates have already been confirmed.
Draw
The draw for the group stage will be held on Thursday 25 August – once the qualifying rounds have taken place. The competition proper will feature 32 clubs split into eight groups of four. As Europa League winners, Eintracht will be in Pot 1 and therefore cannot face the 2021/22 Champions League winners – Liverpool or Real Madrid – or any of the domestic champions from Europe’s top six leagues, namely England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Portugal. Two teams from the same national association cannot be drawn in the same group, while Pots 2 to 4 are composed according to UEFA’s five-year coefficient ranking list.
Eintracht’s possible opponents (as of 21 May)
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League Winners | Chelsea FC | Borussia Dortmund | Celtic FC |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | FC Barcelona | FC Salzburg | tbd |
| FC Bayern Munich | Juventus | Shakhtar Donetsk | tbd |
| Manchester City | Atlético de Madrid | SSC Napoli | tbd |
| AC Milan | Leipzig | Sporting Clube de Portugal | tbd |
| FC Porto | Sevilla FC | Bayer 04 Leverkusen | tbd |
| Paris Saint-Germain | Tottenham Hotspur | tbd | tbd |
| Real Madrid CF | tbd | tbd | tbd |
Dates
The Eagles will return to European action on Tuesday 6 September or Wednesday 7 September. The knockout stage gets under way in February 2023, while the final is being held at Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium.
Key dates at a glance
Group stage
- Matchday 1: 6./7. September 2022
- Matchday 2: 13./14. September 2022
- Matchday 3: 4./5. October 2022
- Matchday 4: 11./12. October 2022
- Matchday 5: 25./26. October 2022
- Matchday 6: 1./2. November 2022
Knock-out stage
- Round of 16: 14./15./21./22. February & 7./8./14./15. March 2023
- Quarter-finals: 11./12. & 18./19. April 2023
- Semi-finals: 9./10. & 16./17. May 2023
- Final: 10. June 2023
