On this football language podcast for learners of English we look ahead to this season’s Champions League by taking a look at some of the favourites and dark horses for the title. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com. Learn English Through Football Podcast: 2022-23 Champions League Preview Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'ogPBkyWrT-1pNzSF24RP8Q',sig:'g62uWq_xOB9Ryn4is-R7HXqhagIkf7q_AzQBashiE8U=',w:'594px',h:'343px',items:'1242713187',caption: false ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); DF: Hello again everyone and welcome to Languagecaster.com – the football-language podcast for learners of English who love the beautiful game of football. I’m Damian and I’m in a rather rainy Ireland (no surprise there) after being in Belfast for a conference along with fellow Languagecaster team member Damon. It was lovely to see him again and we enjoyed some great evenings watching football (he was extremely happy with Liverpool’s last-gasp winner against Newcastle) and of course it was great to present with him at the conference. Now, travelling to the conference explains why we are a little late with the podcast this week – so apologies for that. B ut on this week’s show we take a look at the upcoming Champions League season. We are going to take a look at some of the background to the competition, look at some of the favourites and dark horses and maybe offer a prediction or two. Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in German) Background Now, the pre-qualifiers for the 2022-23 Champions League started way back in June but this week the group stages begin this week and there 32 teams from 15 different countries all battling to make the final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on June 10th next year. Now, this is the 31st time that the Champions League competition has taken place though it will be the 68th overall (of course the European Cup started in 1955). The 32 teams have been organised into eight groups of four and the top two in each of these groups will qualify for the last-16 knock-out stage. This year, because of the 2022 World Cup taking place in November and December, the group stage matches will take place in September and October – so the games will come thick and fast which means there will be no break at all. There will also be an innovation (that’s something new) in this ye...