The Champions League has undergone perhaps the most significant revamp in the competition’s history with a new format in place for the 2024/25 season.
Europe’s premier club competition has abandoned the traditional group stage structure as it enters a 33rd season since rebranding.
Instead, progress to the knockout rounds will be determined by an expanded league stage featuring 36 teams and two more rounds of midweek fixtures.
The final of this year’s competition will be played at the Allianz Arena in Munich next May as Real Madrid bid to defend a continental crown won for the 15th time earlier this year.
Here is everything you need to know about the new format and the 2024/25 Champions League.
What is the new format?
Instead of 32 competing sides being divided into eight groups of four, all 36 teams in this year’s Champions League will form a single league. Each entrant will play four games at home and four games away for a total of eight fixtures, two more than under the previous format. These eight encounters will be with eight different opponents.
The top eight sides in the league after the competition’s first phase will progress directly to the last-16. Teams placed ninth to 24th will have to negotiate a play-off round, while teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from all European competition.
The 36 clubs will be seeded into four different pots based on their individual club coefficient at the start of the season. Each team will face two sides from each pot, one at home and one away. Pot 1 will include defending champions Real Madrid and the other strongest club sides by Uefa coefficient.
When is the draw and how will it work?
A new format neccessitates changes to the Champions League draw. No longer will former footballers reach repeatedly into pots to draw out balls and determine groups; instead, automated software will instead randomly draw eight opponents for each side in turn across the four pots, and allocate which fixtures are at home and away.
The draw for the league phase will be held on August 29 at the the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
When will the league phase fixtures take place?
Two more rounds of fixtures mean that the first phase of the Champions League will now extend into January. The extra fixtures and resulting pressure on the calendar has forced the removal of FA Cup replays in England. The league phase matchdays are as follows:
- Matchday 1: September 17-19, 2024
- Matchday 2: October 1/2, 2024
- Matchday 3: October 22/23, 2024
- Matchday 4: November 5/6, 2024
- Matchday 5: November 26/27, 2024
- Matchday 6: December 10/11, 2024
- Matchday 7: January 21/22, 2025
- Matchday 8: January 29, 2025
While Real Madrid played 13 games on their way to last season’s triumph, a club could in theory play 17 fixtures en route to the trophy if they feature in the play-off round. The knockout round dates are:
- Knockout round play-offs: February 11/12 and February 18/19, 2025
- Round of 16: March 4/5 and March 11/12, 2025
- Quarter-finals: April 8/9 and April 15/16, 2025
- Semi-finals: April 29/30 and May 6/7, 2025
- Final: May 31, 2025
Which teams have already qualified?
Qualifying is ongoing ahead of the league stage draw, though many of the qualified clubs are already known. Ligue 1’s Brest and LaLiga club Girona will make their debuts in European competition. Germany and Italy earned an extra spot in the competition after their clubs performed best in last season’s Uefa competitions.
- Uefa Europa League winners: Atalanta
- England: Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa
- Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Atletico Madrid
- Germany: Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern, Leipzig, Dortmund
- Italy: Inter Milan, AC Milan, Bologna, Juventus
- France: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Brest
- Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord
- Portugal: Sporting CP
- Belgium: Club Brugge
- Scotland: Celtic
- Austria: Sturm Graz
- Champions League winner rebalancing: Shakhtar Donetsk
- Europa League winner rebalancing: Benfica
