With qualifying complete and pots set, the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League season is just around the corner, but it will start on a very different note than in years past. Thursday’s draw unofficially kicks off a season full of intrigue and uncertainty, and not just because of the eternal question of which team will win Europe’s top club prize this spring. UEFA will introduce a new format this season, switching to a Swiss system tournament, which will be the focus of this year’s draw. The Champions League swaps the group stage for the competition stage, adding four more teams and two matches to the schedule. As a result, this year’s draw will not only set out each team’s route to the Champions League final in Munich, but also provide the first glimpse of how the revamped competition will work.
Here’s what you need to know before you tune in.
How to watch
Get to know the new format
The revamped Champions League kicks off with the competition phase, which starts on familiar territory by placing teams into four pots based on their UEFA club coefficients. (The only exception is reigning champions Real Madrid, who were automatically placed in Pot 1 after winning a record 15th Champions League title in June, but probably would have earned that placement anyway.)
Each team is drawn against eight different opponents, two from each pot, and plays four of those matches at home and four away. This is the first time teams in the Champions League will face teams from their own pot, a change designed to increase the competitiveness and entertainment value of the competition in the earlier stages. Teams are ranked in a league table during the competition phase, with the top 24 advancing to the knockout phase.
The knockout phase of the Champions League also looks different this season. The top eight teams after the league stage will advance directly to eighth through 24th places, while the teams ranked nine through 24 will compete against each other in the knockout round play-offs for a chance to win to participate in the eighth finals. a familiar format from then on, as teams compete to play in the May 31 final at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Pots in the competition phase
- Pot 1: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona
- Pot 2: Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan
- Pot 3: Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven, Red Bull Salzburg, Young Boys, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, Lille, Crvena Zvezda
- Pot 4: Monaco, Sparta Prague, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Brest, Slovan Bratislava
Matchdays in the competition phase
- Game 1: September 17-19
- Game 2: October 1-2
- Game 3: October 22-23
- Game 4: November 5-6
- Game 5: November 26-27
- Game 6: December 10-11
- Game 7: January 21-22 (2025)
- Game 8: January 29 (2025)
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