For the fourth time in a row, we are in the UEFA Champions League group stage. We have previously faced KRC Genk, SSC Napoli and Liverpool (2019), Lokomotiv Moscow, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich (2020) as well as VfL Wolfsburg, LOSC Lille and FC Sevilla (2021).
At today's draw in Istanbul, the location of the final of this year's competition, former internationals Hamit Altintop (once of Real Madrid) and Yaya Toure (once of Man City), picked the following opponents for us alongside Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA deputy general secretary.
AC Milan (ITA/pot 1)
- Stadium: Giuseppe Meazza
- Coach: Stefano Pioli
- Summary: Milan won their 19th Italian title last season and have won the UEFA Champions League three times. They are currently second after the opening two Seria A matches, with four points. Their stars include Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud.
Chelsea (ENG/pot 2)
- Stadion: Stamford Bridge
- Coach: Thomas Tuchel
- Summary: The team coached by Germany's Thomas Tuchel finished third in the Premier League last season. Their top players include Raheem Sterling, Hakim Ziyech and Mason Mount. After three matches of the season they are 12th, and won the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League.
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO/pot 4)
- Stadium: Maksimir
- Coach: Ante Cacic
- Summary: Dinamo won their UCL play-off against Bodo/Glimt 4-1 after extra time. The Croatian champions were our opponents in the 2016/17 Champions League play-off and beat us in a close encounter (1-1 away, 1-2 at home). They have two Austrians in their squad in Emir Dilaver and Robert Ljubicic.
Fixtures
The match days of the Champions League group stage have been set, with the exact dates of fixtures still to be confirmed by UEFA. Matches are to kick-off at either 18:45 or 21:00 Austrian time.
- Match day 1: 6/7 September 2022
- Match day 2: 13/14 September 2022
- Match day 3: 4/5 October 2022
- Match day 4: 11/12 October 2022
- Match day 5: 25/26 October 2022
- Match day 6: 1/2 November 2022
Views
We have a really exciting group against extremely strong opponents. We are facing the créme de la créme of European football - teams definitely worthy of the Champions League. AC Milan have one of the greatest traditions of all teams in Europe. Chelsea won the Champions League two years ago, so you don't have to add anything. Dinamo Zagreb have been Croatian champions countless times, and we have experience against them in European football. I am looking forward to playing in front of what will surely be sell-out crowds here in the stadium.
I am very pleased with the draw, as it is a difficult group, but we are facing top opponents and big names. I saw the smiles on the faces of our boys straight after the draw. We are looking forward to these matches, and we are ready for them. We have a lot of work ahead in the next few months due to the many matches in a short period of time. It will be an intensive time, but we will enjoy that. If you have the chance to play at this level, then you are pleased to take on the challenge.
I really like the draw as I wanted to get AC Milan from pot 1. They are real traditional giants with fantastic strikers like Zlatan Ibrahimovic. We have got a cool group, and we hope to have a lot of fans with us away from home. Our aim has to be stay in European competition in the spring, as we have managed in recent years. We'll see which competition that will be in.
Tickets
As of this morning, around 21,000 three-match Blind Date packages were sold for our group matches. Sales of the remaining packages for season-ticket and Business Card holders as well as those who bought match tickets in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons (as of 14.08.2022), are open. You can find further info here:
