The UEFA Champions League will be different for the 2024-25 season, and beyond. It has evolved past the format with which we have been familiar since the 1992-1993 season—when Marseille won the final against AC Milan after it had been last reformatted, and renamed from ‘European Cup’ to the ‘UEFA Champions League’.
Instead of 32 teams competing in eight groups of four, 36 clubs will participate this season in the ‘League Phase’. Each club will face eight different opponents, two each from four pots of nine, and qualify to the ‘Round of 16’ based on the final rankings.
There are no more home-and-away ties. Clubs will face four of their opponents at home, and the other four away. The top eight go through to the next round automatically, the next 16 will play-off against each other in two-legged ties, and the bottom eight will be eliminated altogether.
The draw for the 2024-25 campaign took place in Monaco on 29th August, and was conducted through AI given its complex nature.
Who Do the English Clubs Play?
Four Premier League teams will participate in this season’s competition, and here we look at who they have been drawn to play.
Manchester City
Italian champions Inter Milan
French champions Paris Saint-Germain
Belgian champions Club Brugge
Juventus
Feyenoord
Portuguese champions Sporting CP
Czech champions Sparta Prague
Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava
Arsenal
French champions Paris Saint-Germain
Italian champions Inter Milan
Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk
Atalanta
Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb
Portuguese champions Sporting CP
AS Monaco
Girona
Liverpool
Spanish champions/Champions League winners Real Madrid
RB Leipzig
German champions Bayer Leverkusen
AC Milan
Lille
Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven
Bologna
Girona
Aston Villa
Bayern Munich
RB Leipzig
Juventus
Belgian champions Club Brugge
Scottish champions Celtic
Swiss champions Young Boys
Bologna
AS Monaco
When Do the Matches Take Place?
League Phase fixtures will be played across eight matchdays from September 2024 to January 2025:
Matchday 01: September 17–19, 2024
Matchday 02: October 1/2, 2024
Matchday 03: October 22/23, 2024
Matchday 04: November 5/6, 2024
Matchday 05: November 26/27, 2024
Matchday 06: December 10/11, 2024
Matchday 07: January 21/22, 2025
Matchday 08: January 29 2025
All clubs will learn the date, times, and the order in which play against each of their opponents once the fixtures are announced on Saturday, 31st August.