Key Champions League draw dates that will impact Newcastle United - but not Man Utd or Arsenal

Key Champions League dates to look out for this month

There are still 20 teams vying for the final six group stage places in the 2023-24 Champions League with the play-off round draw set to be made on Monday, August 7.

The draw will be made before the 10 third qualifying round matches get under way next week, meaning the play-off fixtures won’t be known until the two third qualifying round legs are completed on Tuesday, August 15.

And the 32 group stage teams will not be formalised until the play-off round is completed on August 30.

Newcastle are one of 26 teams who have already qualified for the Champions League group stage after finishing fourth in the Premier League last season. But with six places still up for grabs, the make-up of the group stage could still change significantly by the time the draw is made on August 31.

Newcastle United set to be in pot four of the Champions League draw - but it’s not guaranteed yet

Newcastle’s coefficient of 21.914 is the third lowest of the 26 teams who have qualified for the Champions League as it stands. This means they need all six teams still yet to qualify to have a lower coefficient than 21.914 in order to get into pot three instead of pot four.

It’s highly improbable that this will be the case as nine of the 20 teams still fighting for qualification have a higher coefficient than The Magpies.

Newcastle are the only English side whose pot number is yet to be officially confirmed. Manchester City are guaranteed to be in pot one while Manchester United and Arsenal will be in pot two.

Champions League qualifying matches

Champions League qualifying is split into two sections: The ‘Champions Path’ and the ‘League Path’.

The Champions Path is reserved for league title winners from UEFA countries who don’t automatically qualify - so every nation other than England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Austria, Scotland, Serbia and Ukraine.

Four teams qualify from the ‘Champions Path’.

The ‘League Path’ is for the 3rd placed teams in France and Portugal and the 2nd placed teams in Netherlands, Austria, Scotland, Serbia, Ukraine, Belgium, Switzerland and Greece.

Two teams qualify from the ‘League Path’.

Third round qualifying - to be played on August 8/9 & August 15

Teams with a higher coefficient than Newcastle have been listed in bold.

Champions Path

Rakow Czetochowa (Poland) v Aris Limassol (Cyprus)

Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) v Maccabi Haifa (Israel)

AEK Athens (Greece) v Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) v Galatasaray (Turkey)

Copenhagen (Denmark) v Sparta Prague (Czech Republic)

KI (Faroe Islands) v Molde (Norway)

League Path

Braga (Portugal) v TSC (Serbia)

Rangers (Scotland) v Servette (Switzerland)

Panathinaikos (Greece) v Marseille (France)

PSV (Netherlands) v Sturm Graz (Austria)

Play-off round - to be played on August 22/23 & August 29/30

The six winners of the third qualifying round matches in the Champions Path will advance to the play-off round where they will be joined by Young Boys (Switzerland) and Antwerp (Belgium). The four winning teams from the play-off round matches will advance to the Champions League group stage.

The four winners from the League Path third qualifying round will then be drawn against one another in the play-off round with the two winners progressing to the Champions League group stage.