The 68th season of the UEFA Champions League, Europe’s premier club football tournament, will be available to stream for Showmax Pro subscribers in South Africa, Lesotho and Mauritius, courtesy of SuperSport.
All games from the group stage onwards will be live, kicking off today, 6 September. The UEFA Champions League is an annual club football competition contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competition winners through group stages to qualify for a double-legged knockout format and a single-leg final.
Defending champions Real Madrid defeated Liverpool in the 2021/22 final, lifting their 14th Champions League title – a record in the history of the competition. Karim Benzema, Los Blanco’s striking talisman, netted 14 goals last season, making him the top scorer in the competition, and he was named UEFA Player of the Year during the group stage draw that took place on 25 August.
This year’s groups are
Group A: AFC Ajax, Liverpool, S.S.C Napoli, Rangers F.C
Group B: FC Porto, Atlético Madrid, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Club Brugge
Group C: Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen
Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Sporting CP, Olympique de Marseille
Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea FC, FC Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb FC
Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic FC
Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla FC, Borussia Dortmund, FC Copenhagen
Group H: Paris Saint-Germain FC, Juventus FC, SL Benfica, Maccabi Haifa FC
Key matchups to look forward to including Barcelona taking on Bayern Munich – a fixture in which they have historically struggled, having lost both of their group games last season by 3–0, also suffering a humiliating 8-2 loss in 2020, in which Bayern went on to be crowned champions. Xavi and his men will want to turn this around and will put their faith in Polish super striker Robert Lewandowski, who joined Barcelona from Bayern this season.
Man City’s new star striker Erling Haaland will return to Germany to take on Borussia Dortmund, the side he parted ways with at the start of this season to join Pep Guardiola’s troops. The Norwegian has hit the ground running in England, scoring six goals in four games in the English Premier League. The city has not won this tournament before.
Two-time winner Chelsea, who beat Manchester City in 2021 final, will be closely watched, especially as it is the current holder of the FIFA Club World Cup. They take on Dinamo Zagreb away today and are expected to take away all three points.
PSG, who are still on a quest for their first ever Champions League trophy, will hope forwards Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe can lead them to victory against Serie A giants Juventus. Portuguese side Benfica will aim to take all three points as they are strong favourites in their game against Israeli outfit Maccabi Haifa.
Tottenham makes a long-awaited return to the competition after losing to Liverpool in the 2019 final. The London club will rely on England striker Harry Kane to fire them out of the group stage, in which they face last season’s Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt, Sporting CP and French club Marseille.
Last year’s runners-up Liverpool face Ajax and new manager Alfred Schreuder, who aims to motivate his men to overcome The Reds. Napoli and Rangers are the other eagerly awaited clash in Group A. Rangers, who were runners-up to Eintracht Frankfurt in last season’s Europa League final, will look to defeat Serie A team, Napoli.
Dates for the group stage are as follows:
- Matchday 1: 6/7 September
- Matchday 2: 13/14 September
- Matchday 3: 4/5 October
- Matchday 4: 11/12 October
- Matchday 5: 25/26 October
- Matchday 6: 1/2 November
The last group-stage games take place on 1 and 2 November, with the Round of 16 draws happening on 7 November. The full fixtures list has been released and you can see all the matchups here.
Don’t miss the world’s greatest club competition, available for streaming to Showmax Pro subscribers in South Africa, Lesotho and Mauritius, courtesy of SuperSport, from 6 September.
Visit showmax.com to learn more or to subscribe to Showmax Pro.