The UEFA Champions League has a brand new expanded format for the 2024-25 season and it takes some explaining.
So, let’s get to it.
Below is everything you need to know about the upcoming Champions League campaign as Real Madrid aim to retain their crown.
Latest Champions League playoffs to reach the group stage
After a gruelling set of qualifiers over the summer months, there are 14 teams left in the hunt to grab a spot in the Champions League group stage.
With 29 of the 36 teams for the group stage already confirmed, the final seven spots will go to these teams who play two-legged playoffs over the next week.
Tuesday, August 20
Bodo/Glimt 2-1 Red Star Belgrade – CH match 4
Lille 2-0 Slavia Prague – LP match 1
Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 Qarabag FK – CH match 2
Wednesday, August 21
Young Boys 3-2 Galatasaray – CH match 1
Midtjylland 1-1 Slovan Bratislava – CH match 3
Dynamo Kiev 0-2 RB Salzburg – LP match 2
Malmo 0-2 Sparta Prague – CH match 5
Tuesday, August 27
Galatasaray vs Young Boys – 3pm ET
Sparta Prague vs Malmo – 3pm ET
RB Salzburg vs Dynamo Kiev – 3pm ET
Wednesday, August 28
Qarabag FK vs Dinamo Zagreb – 12:45pm ET
Red Star Belgrade vs Bodo/Glimt – 3pm ET
Slovan Bratislava vs Midtjylland – 3pm ET
Slavia Prague vs Lille – 3pm ET
When is the Champions League group stage?
The new group stage takes place from September 17, 2024 until January 29, 2025.
Here are the dates for the group stage games:
- Matchday 1: 17–19 September 2024
- Matchday 2: 1/2 October 2024
- Matchday 3: 22/23 October 2024
- Matchday 4: 5/6 November 2024
- Matchday 5: 26/27 November 2024
- Matchday 6: 10/11 December 2024
- Matchday 7: 21/22 January 2025
- Matchday 8: 29 January 2025
Explaining how the new Champions League format works
Each team will play eight games in the new league phase of the tournament, against eight different teams. Four games at home and four away.
Teams will be ranked in to one of four pots (full pot list below) and each team will play against two teams from each of the four pots. Teams will play one match at home and one match away against a team from each pot.
The top eight teams in the league phase will qualify for the Round of 16 automatically, while the teams who finish in positions 9-24 will qualify for the knockout round. Teams who finish in positions 25-36 will be eliminated from the Champions League and will not play in any other European competition for the rest of the 2024-25 season.
The eight teams who advance from the knockout round will then face one of the teams who finished in positions 1-8 in the league phase in the Round of 16, and from then on the tournament will be a normal knockout format.
Teams who qualified for Champions League group stage
Pot 1
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Bayern Munich
PSG
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
Winner of CH match 1
Winner of CH match 2
Winner of LP match 1
Pot 3 or 4
Winner of CH match 3
Winner of CH match 4
Winner of LP match 2
Pot 4
Monaco
Aston Villa
Bologna
Girona
Stuttgart
Storm Graz
Brest
Winner of CH match 5
When is the Champions League group stage draw?
The draw for the Champions League group stage will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on August 29, 2024.
What are the Champions League knockout stage dates?
An extra knockout round has been created, as the teams who finish in spots 9-24 in the league phase will play two-legged ties to reach the Round of 16 where they will face one of the top eight teams from the league phase who qualified automatically for the Round of 16.
- Knockout round play-offs: 11/12 & 18/19 February 2025
- Round of 16: 4/5 & 11/12 March 2025
- Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April 2025
- Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May 2025
- Final: 31 May 2025
When and where is the 2024-25 Champions League final?
The Champions League final will take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich on May 31, 2025.
