The 36 teams in the league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League now know their eight opponents following the inaugural draw in Monaco on Thursday.
Even though the teams now know all their opponents, the fixture list with match dates and kick-off times will be elaborated afterwards and announced on Saturday 31 August, to ensure no calendar clashes with teams in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League playing in the same cities.
How did the draw work?
To determine the eight different opponents, teams were seeded in four pots based on their individual club coefficient at the beginning of the season (the only exception being the Champions League titleholder top seeded in pot 1). Each team was then drawn against two opponents from each pot, one of which they will play at home and one away.
In the league phase teams cannot face opponents from their country and could be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same country.
There is a reason that European football is one of the world’s most successful and popular sports. It never stands still. Since the inaugural competition, known as the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, kicked off in 1955, UEFA has continuously evolved and adapted the UEFA Champions League to keep pace with wider changes in the game.
To ensure the new 2024/25 format will deliver the best for clubs, players and fans, UEFA based its design on extensive consultations with key stakeholders in the European football community. The final format, access list and calendar for European club competitions was approved on 10 May 2022, further to UEFA’s decision of 19 April 2021 to introduce a new competition system.
“UEFA has clearly shown that we are fully committed to respecting the fundamental values of sport and to defending the key principle of open competitions, with qualification based on sporting merit, fully in line with the values and solidarity-based European sports model,” said UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin. “I am really pleased that it was a unanimous decision of the UEFA Executive Committee, with the European Club Association, European Leagues and national associations all agreeing with the proposal made. Another proof that European football is more united than ever.”
The pivotal change in the reforms announced by the UEFA Executive Committee is the departure from the current format’s group stage system. The present Champions League group stage includes 32 participants divided into eight groups of four. From the 2024/25 season, 36 clubs will participate in the Champions League league phase (former group stage), giving four more sides the opportunity to compete against the best clubs in Europe. Those 36 clubs will participate in a single league competition in which all 36 competing clubs are ranked together.
Under the new format, teams will play eight matches in the new league phase (former group stage). They will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away. To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away.
This gives the opportunity for clubs to test themselves against a wider range of opponents and raises the prospect for fans of seeing the top teams go head to head more often and earlier in the competition. It will also result in more competitive matches for every club across the board.
