UEFA Champions League draw: the new format explained
With the draw for the brand-new “league phase” of the UEFA Champions League set to take place at 18:00 CET today, let’s take a closer look at all of the key information about the competition’s new format.
The 2024–2025 season is set to mark a turning point in the history of UEFA's most prestigious club competition.
The Champions League as we know it is changing, with the group stage now becoming a "league phase".
36 teams (compared to 32 previously) have qualified for this league phase, where they will all be placed into one league table, although each team will only face a total of eight other sides at this stage rather than taking on every team in the competition.
Let's use Paris Saint-Germain, who are in Pot 1, as an example. Today's draw will determine the capital club's eight opponents, four of which they will take on at home and four of which they will face on the road. Les Parisiens will be drawn against two clubs from each pot, although two teams from the same country cannot meet each other in the league phase, while no team is able to face two sides from the same country across these eight fixtures, which will take place from September to January.
At the end of the league phase, the top eight teams in the table will go through to the last 16, while the teams ranked from ninth down to 24th will battle it out in two-legged play-offs to join them there. The teams that finish between 25th and 36th, meanwhile, will be eliminated from all European competitions for the rest of the season.
From then on, the format returns to normal, with two-legged ties being used in the last 16, in the quarter-finals and in the semi-finals before a one-off final, which will take place in Munich this season.