Champions League 2022/23: All You Need to Know
If football is right up your alley, then the UEFA Champions League must be your favorite thing! As you may know, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) organizes the UEFA Champions League (UCL) matches among various top-division European football teams. The crown goes to the winning team at the end of almost a grueling year of matches between participating European countries.
The Champions League 2022/23 is gearing up as one of the greatest contests yet. After the Covid-19 pandemic put a dampener on all enjoyment for the past two years, the UEFA has begun proceedings to jazz up the tournament. Now, with the government of Turkey lowering its restrictions, the league is back on track for the 68th season. Premier leagues will face one another and leave it all on the field.
Betting and football are thick as thieves. Most spectators hope to get their hands on the best bets. If you are looking to bet on the Champions League winner of the 2022-23 cycle, you are in the right place! Gambling expert Rebecca Martin teams up with BetZillion to offer the most hard-hitting and detailed facts ardent followers of the UCL 2022-23 competition must know. Please look at the UCL dates, draws, qualifying matches, winners list, and more in our article.
The History of Champions League
The UEFA UCL begets respect and dignity as an institution with deep roots inserted between the lively culture of the Old World. Before you get on with your big bet on the Champions League winners, hang on. It is crucial to get an idea of how the Cup began, its inspiration, and who started it. After all, the history of any sport is fundamental to placing your odds. Rebecca Martin has compiled a brief history of the UCL to anticipate its 68th season this year. Take a look below to know more.
The UEFA Champions League: The Beginnings of the Cup in Europe
The 1895 World Championship was the first time that two champions of the European leagues met. England’s Sunderland gave a good thrashing to the Scottish Hearts with a 5-3 leadership. The Challenge Cup was the first pan-European tournament among football clubs in the Austr-Hungarian Empire. The Cup led to the formation and emergence of the Mitropa Cup, idealized by Austrian Hugo Meisl in 1927. Various Central European clubs competed for the Cup.
Following these attempts, the Swiss club Servette organized and participated in the Coupe des Nations in 1930. The Nations Cup modelled a tournament specifically for European national champion clubs. The match was held in Geneva where ten champions from all over Europe came to win the Cup. The winner of the tournament was Újpest of Hungary. 1949 saw the emergence of the Latin Cup formed by the nations of Latin Europe.
1n 1948, reports of the positively victorious South American Championship of Champions led the editor of the L’Équipe, Gabriel Hanot, to propose the invention of a tournament that would invite participants from all over the continent. The founders of the European Champions Cup, Hanot and Jacques Ferran, both credit the South American Championship of Champions as the motivation behind the European Champions Cup. after the successful operation of friendly matches in the 1950s, Hanot convinced the UEFA to create such a tournament.
Thus came into existence the European Champion Club’s Cup in 1955 in Paris. The first Cup occurred during the 1955–56 season and began on 4 September 1955. The teams that participated were:
- AC Milan (Italy),
AGF Aarhus (Denmark),
Anderlecht (Belgium),
Djurgården (Sweden),
Gwardia Warszawa (Poland),
Hibernian (Scotland),
Partizan (Yugoslavia),
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands),
Rapid Wien (Austria),
Real Madrid (Spain),
Rot-Weiss Essen (West Germany),
Saarbrücken (Saar),
Servette (Switzerland),
Sporting CP (Portugal),
Stade de Reims (France),
and Vörös Lobogó (Hungary).
It ended with a 3-3 draw between Sporting CP and Partizan. Sporting CP’s João Baptista Martins scored the first goal in the EC history while the Parc des Princes ushered the inaugural finale between Stade de Reims and Real Madrid on 13 June 1956, where the Spanish team took home the Cup. Real Madrid holds the title for the most consecutive wins – 5 years in a row.
The team was brought down by their rival, Barcelona, in the 1960-61 season in the first round itself. The next cycle saw the team defend its title for a second consecutive time against Real Madrid. The winners faced defeat, however, at the hands of Portugal’s Benfica at the finale.
Manchester United became the first English football league in the 1967-68 cycle to bring home the European Cup. After defeating Benfica in the final, Manchester United wrested the Cup from the reigning champions, the Celtics, the first British team to win the Cup in the previous finale.
Here is a brief timeline of the European Cup over the years:
1963 to 1965: Milanese clubs overwhelm all other clubs, with Inter becoming victorious twice and Milan once.
1970 to 1973: Ajax achieved the status of the second side to win three European Cups consecutively.
1974 to 1976: Immediately after the Dutch form, Bayern Munich reprised Ajax’s feat.
1977 to 1984: England becomes a serious contender to deal with, with four victorious clubs – Liverpool (4), Nottingham Forest (2), and Aston Villa (1).
1989 to 1990: The final club to win the European Cup twice consecutively is Milan.
In the 1992-1993 season, the competition changed its name. From the European Cup, the tournament came to be known as the Champion’s League as the contest expanded to include more global entities, clubs, and investors. It became the world-renowned football event that we have come to know and love today.
2022/2023 Champions League Season Factoids
Here are some interesting facts the average bettor may not be aware of the UCL:
1. Real Madrid was the first winner of the UCL in 1955.
2. Real Madrid also boasts of the most number of wins – 1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1965-66, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2001-02 and 2013-14.
3. It’s the luck of the Spanish at the UCL, with clubs from Spain being the most successful.
4. Portugal’s Benfica and Italy’s Juventas have lost more than they have won.
5. George Frideric’s 1727 Zadok the Priest is the inspiration for the UCL’s anthem.
6. The star mark on the football is an iconic design. A survey in 1999 reported that 94% of fans worldwide recognize it.
All 2022/2023 Champions League Teams
The group stage clubs are as follows:
Ajax (NED)
Atlético (ESP)
Barcelona (ESP)
Bayern (GER)
Celtic (SCO)
Chelsea (ENG)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Dortmund (GER)
Frankfurt (GER)
Inter (ITA)
Juventus (ITA)
Leipzig (GER)
Leverkusen (GER)
Liverpool (ENG)
Man. City (ENG)
Marseille (FRA)
Milan (ITA)
Napoli (ITA)
Paris (FRA)
Porto (POR)
Real Madrid (ESP)
Salzburg (AUT)
Sevilla (ESP)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Sporting CP (POR)
Tottenham (ENG)
The play-offs are:
Copenhagen (DEN)
Trabzonspor (TUR)
The third qualifying round goes to:
Apollon (CYP)
Benfica (POR)
Crvena Zvezda (SRB)
Monaco (FRA)
PSV (NED)
Rangers (SCO)
Sturm (AUT)
Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL)
The second qualifying round consists of:
AEK Larnaca (CYP)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Fenerbahçe (TUR)
M. Haifa (ISR)
Midtjylland (DEN)
Olympiacos (GRE)
Plzeň (CZE)
Zürich (SUI)
The first qualifying round consists of the following clubs:
Ballkani (KOS)
Bodø/Glimt (NOR)
CFR Cluj (ROU)
Diddeleng (LUX)
Dinamo Batumi (GEO)
Ferencváros (HUN)
Hibernians (MLT)
HJK (FIN)
Inter Escaldes (AND)
KÍ (FRO)
La Fiorita (SMR)
Lech (POL)
Levadia (EST)
Lincoln Red Imps (GIB)
Linfield (NIR)
Ludogorets (BUL)
Malmö (SWE)
Maribor (SVN)
Pyunik (ARM)
Qarabağ (AZE)
RFS (LVA)
Shakhtyor (BLR)
Shamrock Rovers (IRL)
Sheriff (MDA)
Shkupi (MKD)
Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
Sutjeska (MNE)
Tirana (ALB)
TNS (WAL)
Tobol (KAZ)
Víkingur Reykjavík (ISL)
Žalgiris (LTU)
Zrinjski (BIH)
Match Key Dates
The UCL match key dates have been published in the roster. The final will play out at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, home of the Turkish national team. Istanbul was first selected to host the final in 2020. However, the Covid-19 situation postponed the match, and the location had to be shifted to Lisbon to protect the health of the players, crew, fans, etc.
The UEFA has released details regarding the upcoming season. Rebecca Martin has compiled the various dates and match types for your convenience.
When do the Champions League qualifying matches start?
Preliminary round semi-finals: 21 June 2022
Preliminary round final: 24 June 2022
First qualifying round: 5/6 and 12/13 July 2022
Second qualifying round: 19/20 and 26/27 July 2022
Third qualifying round: 2/3 and 9 August 2022
Play-offs: 16/17 and 23/24 August 2022
When does the Champions League group stage start?
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
When do the knockout stages of the Champions League start?
Round of 16: 14/15/21/22 February and 7/8/14/15 March 2023
Quarter-finals: 11/12 and 18/19 April 2023
Semi-finals: 9/10 and 16/17 May 2023
Final: 10 June 2023
Where will the Champion’s League Final be held?
The spectacular final match will play out at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, which is home to the Turkish national team. The venue famously hosted the 2005 decider. The field saw Liverpool recover from 3-0 down and beat AC Milan in the popularly known ‘Miracle of Istanbul’.
Draw
Preliminary round: 7 June 2022
First qualifying round: 14 June 2022
Second qualifying round: 15 June 2022
Third qualifying round: 18 July 2022
Play-off round: 2 August 2022
Group stage: 25 August 2022
Round of 16: 7 November 2022
Quarter-finals and semi-finals: 17 March 2022
Who Is Favored to Win the Champions League Final?
The best part of the UEFA UCL is the lush betting ground that a gambler gets. You can study the game and pick who you think will be the Champions League winners for the season.
Yes, you read that right! Betting sites have released the Champions League odds. The odds are in for 2022-23! You may be surprised that Real Madrid doesn’t lead the pack despite their 14 wins. However, Manchester shows the season strong this time. Rebecca Martin has compiled the top ten clubs that are most predicted as the Champions League winners. Keep an eye on the list below:
1. Manchester City
2. Liverpool
3. Paris Saint-Germain
4. Bayern Munich
5. Real Madrid
6. Chelsea
7. Barcelona
8. Juventus (Sleeper)
9. Tottenham Hotspur (Sleeper)
10. Milan, Atletico Madrid, and Inter
In Conclusion
The UCL is a magnificent tournament that fosters a sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship among the athletes. Fans of the sport passionately support and love their clubs. The wagers on the various teams will feed your thirst for the most adrenaline-spiking gambling thirst. However, make sure you understand the various ins and outs of the games before you start betting on the Champions League final.
