UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2022/23 PREVIEW
As far as UK TV rights go, it’s still exclusively BT Sport for the 2022/23 season, but changes are afoot with UEFA Champions League matches to be shown from 2024/35 by pay-TV broadcasters BT Sport and Amazon Prime with match highlights available free on BBC Sport.
This season’s UEFA Champions League promises to be one for the ages with both Manchester City and Paris St. Germain under increased pressure, internally and externally, to finally deliver a European Cup after their lavish spending.
City have added Erling Haaland to get them over the line, while it’s change from top to bottom at PSG with Christophe Galtier and Luis Campos, the former Lille dream team, brought in deliver a properly structured team rather than the collection of individuals who have turned out for the club in recent years.
Our UEFA Champions league preview is brought to you in partnership with EPL Index, and Dave Hendrick – host of the Two Footed Podcast, offering FREE podcasts to football fans.
Elsewhere there are former Champions in Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Chelsea who are all looking to regain their place atop the European football mountain. All three have made some splashy signings this summer and have high expectations going into the season.
And then there is Real Madrid, the defending Champions and the undisputed Kings of Europe. Real claimed their 14th European Cup by defeating Liverpool in Paris in May, that leaves the Madrid club with more European Cups than any two other clubs combined, and double the amount of the next closest team, Bayern Munich.
Outside of those six teams, there doesn’t seem to be anyone else capable of winning the competition this year. Barcelona will always believe they have a chance, but that stems more from club status and history than the reality of where they are now. They have recruited well this summer, but they still have too many holes in their team to be considered contenders.
Right now, 26 teams are certain of a spot in the Group Stage that will take place on August 25th. In that draw 32 teams will be drawn into eight groups of four. That means there are still six places up for grabs and they will be decided over the two legged affairs which begin this week.
The six games are split across Tuesday and Wednesday, with three games on each night. We thought we’d highlight the two best games for you to watch this week.
Tuesday’s marquee game sees Rangers play host to PSV Eindhoven. This game is part of the league path, contested among teams who finished as runners up in domestic leagues with co-efficient ratings not good enough to give them a second team automatically in the group stage, but good enough to warrant one automatic berth and a second play-off berth.
Rangers earned their place in this round by defeating Belgian runners-up Union Saint-Gilloise, coming back from a 2-0 first leg deficit with an outstanding 3-0 home victory in the second leg. The power of Ibrox helped roar the team to that second leg success and create another famous night at the legendary Glasgow stadium.
PSV, runners-up in the Eredivisie last season, beat Monaco in 4-3 on aggregate after a thrilling 3-2 extra-time win in their second leg. PSV, under new manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy, have begun the season in fine form scoring goals for fun but looking a bit suspect at the back. They will be looking to get through this game at Ibrox with minimum damage, knowing that Rangers are a significantly weaker side away from home.
On Wednesday, the game to watch is Dynamo Kiev against Benfica. This game will take place on neutral ground in Poland, given the ongoing War in Ukraine, and that presents a significant disadvantage to Dynamo. As does the fact that they’ve had such a traumatic year in their homeland and won’t be at full steam.
Benfica always make good viewing, they’re an aggressive attack minded side who have been Champions League regulars over the years and last season qualified for the knockout stages at the expense of Barcelona. They’ve lost Darwin Nunez, but have an exceptional young midfielder called Enzo Fernandes who is worth tuning in for by himself. The goalscoring burden that Nunez carried last season will fall on Goncalo Ramos, currently a target for Newcastle among others, and he’s also one worth keeping an eye on.
No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watch UEFA Champions League 2022/23 from anywhere. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.
How to watch every UEFA Champions League match from anywhere…
UEFA Champions League matches will be streamed exclusively live in the UK by BT Sport on their website, as well as their respective apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Smart TV, Now TV, FireTV etc.
But these streaming services are not available to everyone, for example when you load BT Sport in the USA, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Canada etc. you will get an error message.
Sorry, this video is not available in your country.
This is basically because their streaming services are geoblocked based on the IP address being used to access it. You must be a UK domestic web user to access BT Sport live tv streaming.
- Get a UK IP address for UEFA Champions League
- If you want to watch on your Windows PC, Mac, FireTV, iPhone, iPad or Android then you can get a UK Proxy or VPN Apps from Liberty Shield, FREE for 48 hours and then from only £8.99 per month..
- Prefer to watch on supported media streaming devices like Now TV, Smart TVs, Apple TV, Xbox, PS4, Roku etc? You’ll need a UK configured VPN Router setup as British, available from only £14.99 with Worldwide Shipping available.
How can I watch BT Sport UEFA Champions League 2022/23 matches live?
Whilst Amazon will shake things up next season, BT Sport remains the exclusive UK broadcaster for UEFA Champions League matches.
BT Sport announced that it will continue to be the home of UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League until 2027. Nothing will change this season but from 2024 BT Sport will show the majority, and not all, UEFA Champions League games, as well as all of the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League. The other matches will be streamed live by Amazon Prime with match highlights available free from BBC Sport. The good news though is that BT Sport will continue to broadcast the finals for free. As for the Premier League, this season BT Sport will show a total of 52 live games.
There are a few options when it comes to signing up to BT Sport, firstly by combining it with BT Broadband. Put your postcode into the website to see what deals are available.
On the TV side, prices start at £16 per month for the duration of a 24-month contract. In exchange, you’ll get all the BT Sport channels and BoxNation, alongside Freeview, AMC and a recordable TV box.
You can also just use the BT Sport app for £16 per month- it works on mobile, tablet, smart TV and console – or buy the Monthly Pass for £25 per month. If your device supports it, you’ll still be able to watch in up to 4K HDR quality. Sky customers can get BT Sport added for £21 per month.
BT also offers a combined package with Sky Sports via Now, which is £41 per month for 24 months.
Furthermore; BT Sport, Amazon Prime and BBC Sport aren’t the only geographically-censored streaming services a VPN or Proxy will allow you to access. Other UK services like Sky Sports, Now TV, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and BritBox are available. Plus with the option to switch to our USA service whenever you like, you can access Hulu, HBO GO, Netflix and Pandora. Essentially you can access international content from virtually anywhere!
