The first participants in the sixth edition of the 2023 KDB Cup (June 10 and 11) have been announced. Barcelona returns to Drongen to extend its 2022 title. After 2016 (fourth), 2017 (final winner) and 2019 (fifth), the Catalans again seem determined to live up to their status as favorites. A new clásico as the final duel is a possibility, as Real Madrid let chairman Paul Naudts and tournament leader Jeroen Verhille know that - after their second place finish during their second participation in last year's anniversary edition - they obviously also have high ambitions.
Rekordmeister Bayern Munich after the previous presence of Bayer Leverkusen (2016) and Borussia Dortmund (2018 and 2022), will host the German honor for the second time. In 2019, the Bavarian superpower finished sixth, a performance that does not match their prestige and expectations. Manchester City in addition to being crowd-pleasers, is also a hyper-ambitious team that wants to convince star keeper and captain Kevin De Bruyne with a nice final result. The Cityzens finished fourth in 2018, only 11th a year later, but a handsome fourth last year.
Belgium, with Club Brugge and KAA Gent two teams, both of which have been at the KDB Cup from the beginning. The West Flames finished third in the first encounter, their best ever finish. Last season, blue-black finished fifth. The Buffaloes achieved that fifth-place finish in 2017, but disappointed in 2022: their champion team finished only tenth.
PSG represents France and descends to the Chancellery Complex for the fifth time. The team from the capital never got higher than seventh place (2022) in the past, following their previous 11th (2017 and 2018) and ninth (2019) places.
Finally, the sympathetic Danes of Odense BK come again. In 2016 and 2017, they did not get beyond a tenth place each time. Under the motto "third time, good time," the Islanders promised a higher final ranking in 2018. They kept their word with a third-place finish.