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The brand new Champions League begins with a format that Uefa hopes will revitalise Europe’s elite competition.
The old group stage faced criticism for being too predictable and the hope is that the new league phase will make for a more interesting dynamic.
Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa qualified for the Champions League from the Premier League, while Real Madrid will look to defend their crown as the reigning champions, having beaten Borussia Dortmund in last season’s final.
When is the 2024/25 Champions League draw?
The draw will take place on Thursday 29 August from 5pm BST.
How to watch
The draw will be streamed live online via the Champions League website and Uefa YouTube channel.
What will the new Champions League look like?
Under the new format, teams will play eight matches against eight different teams, rather than three teams twice as was previously the case
Four extra clubs will be added to take the number up to 36, and a single league format will be used. The league phase will determine an overall ranking – from 1st to 36th, with three points for a win and one for a draw as usual.
The top eight teams will advance to the last 16, with the 16 teams finishing between ninth and 24th entering the play-off round over two legs, with a victory securing passage to the last 16. Teams who finish 25th or below will be eliminated and will not drop down to the Europa League.
How will the draw work?
All eight matches will be played against different teams, with four at home and four away, and organised by seeding. All the results would contribute to the overall league ranking.
Teams will be seeded in four pots based on their individual club coefficient at the beginning of the season (the only exception being the Champions League titleholder always top seed in pot 1). Each team will then be drawn against two opponents from each pot, one of which will be at home and one away.
In the league phase teams cannot face opponents from their country and can be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same country.
All 36 teams will be manually drawn using physical balls. For every team manually drawn, a designated automated software will randomly draw eight opponents across the four pots, who will be revealed on screen in the draw hall and on television. The software will also decide which matches will be at home and which ones away.