This season is the 70th edition of the European Cup/Champions League and to mark the occasion UEFA have completely revamped the format, making it bigger and better (maybe) than ever before. Confused about how it's all going to work? Well, you've come to the right place!
When is the UEFA Champions League draw and how can I watch it?
The draw takes place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday 29 August, starting at 5pm (BST) or midday (EDT). In the UK, you can watch it on BBC iPlayer or TNT Sports 1, while in the U.S. it's available on Paramount+.
How is the UEFA Champions League format changing?
As outlined in this swanky video put out by UEFA, the traditional group stage, that has been in place since 1991, has been abolished and replaced by a league phase.
This means the 36 competing clubs, up from 32, will all be ranked in one big league table, playing eight matches against eight different opponents, four at home and four away.
Clubs can face a maximum of two teams from another nation, while clubs from the same league cannot be drawn against one-another.
At the end of the group phase, teams ranked between 1st and 8th go straight through to the round of 16, while teams ranked 9th to 24th enter a preliminary knockout round. Clubs finishing 25th and below are eliminated from UEFA competition, with no one dropping into the Europa League anymore.
When are UEFA Champions League league phase fixtures taking place?
- Matchday 1: 17, 18 & 19 September- exclusive week, featuring Thursday fixtures.
- Matchday 2: 1 & 2 October
- Matchday 3: 22 & 23 October
- Matchday 4: 5 & 6 November
- Matchday 5: 26 & 27 November
- Matchday 6: 10 & 11 December
- Matchday 7: 21 & 22 January
- Matchday 8: 29 January- all 18 matches taking place simultaneously
How will the UEFA Champions League league phase draw work?
ℹ️ New format. New draw.#UCLdraw | #UELdraw | #UECLdraw pic.twitter.com/QKTwVPMhQU
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 20, 2024
As outlined in another slick video released by UEFA, the draw is, as they put it, 'hybrid'. Essentially, a team will be drawn out of their respective pot, before a software randomly assigns them their opponents, which isn't open to any sort of manipulation at all it is?!
As reported by Paul MacInnes of the Guardian earlier this year, UEFA claim that if the draw was done manually it would take up to five hours to complete; well, you should've have made the format so complicated then should you?
Which teams feature in the UEFA Champions League draw?
The 36 teams have been divided into four pots, based on their UEFA Coefficient Ranking, as follows:
Pot 1
- Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Internazionale, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig & Barcelona.
Pot 2
- Bayer Leverkusen, Atlético Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk & AC Milan.
Pot 3
- Feyenoord, Sporting Club de Portugal, PSV Eindhoven, GNK Dinamo Zagreb, RB Salzburg, LOSC Lille, Crvena zvezda, BSC Young Boys, Celtic.
Pot 4
- ŠK Slovan Bratislava, Monaco, Sparta Prague, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Stade Brestois.
As alluded to earlier, clubs will face 2 teams from each of the 4 pots including their own, 1 at home and 1 away, with a maximum of 2 opponents per country. Clubs from the same country cannot face each-other.