All you need to know about the 2023-24 Champions League

The Champions League is back with the 2023-24 season kicking off this evening.

Manchester City begin their defence of the European crown with a home game against Crvena zvezda, while Manchester United travel to Bayern Munich to take on Harry Kane and Co on Wednesday.

Newcastle, meanwhile, play AC Milan at the San Siro as they begin their attempt to qualify from a group of death also featuring Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund.

Here is all the key information to get clued up on the continent's biggest club competition.

Champions League 2023-24 group stage draw

Group A

Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Copenhagen, Galatasaray

Group B

Sevilla, Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven, Lens

Group C

Napoli, Real Madrid, Braga, Union Berlin

Group D

Benfica, Inter Milan, FC Salzburg, Real Sociedad

Group E

Feyenoord, Atletico Madrid, Lazio, Celtic

Group F

Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, Newcastle

Group G

Manchester City, RB Leipzig, Crvena zvezda, Young Boys

Group H

Barcelona, Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Antwerp

When are the 2023-24 Champions League group stage fixtures?

The group stage fixtures begin this week.

During this stage, the teams in each group will play each other home and away, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the knockout stages.

The dates for all six matchdays are as follows:

Matchday 1: September 19-20

Matchday 2: October 3-4

Matchday 3: October 24-25

Matchday 4: November 7-8

Matchday 5: November 28-29

Matchday 6: December 12-13

When are the 2023-24 Champions League knockout draws?

The draw for the last 16 takes place in December, once the group stage is completed, while the quarter-final and semi-final draws take place on the same day in 2024.

The last-16 draw will see group stage winners drawn against group stage runners-up, while teams from the same country will not be drawn against each other.

The quarter-final and semi-final draws are completely open.

The full list of dates is as follows:

Last-16 draw: Monday, December 18, 2023

Quarter-finals and semi-finals draw: Friday, March 15, 2024

When are the 2023-24 Champions League knockout fixtures?

The Champions League knockout fixtures take place in February, March, April and May.

All ties will be played across two legs, with teams playing one home match and one away match.

The full list of dates is as follows:

Last 16 first legs: February 13, 14, 20 and 21

Last 16 second legs: March 5, 6, 12 and 13

Quarter-final first legs: April 9 and 10

Quarter-final second legs: April 16 and 17

Semi-final first legs: April 30 and May 1

Semi-final second legs: May 7 and 8

When is the 2023-24 Champions League final?

The 2023-24 Champions League final will take place on Saturday, June 1 at Wembley Stadium.

It will be the third final to be played in London since 2011, when Barcelona beat Manchester United 3-1.

Bayern Munich also won the Champions League at Wembley, overcoming Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in 2013.

Who won last season's Champions League?

Manchester City are the current holders of the Champions League, beating Inter Milan 1-0 in the 2022-23 final last June.

The victory saw City complete the Treble, adding European honours to the Premier League and FA Cup.

Real Madrid are the most successful team in the competition's history, winning it 14 times.