The draw for the Champions League will take place on August 29th and will have a completely new look. Skysport.de clarifies the most important questions and answers about the new draw procedure.
When and where will the historic CL draw take place?
On August 29th, the preliminary round pairings of the brand new Champions League format will be drawn in Monaco. Sky broadcasts the draw from 6 p.m. live on TV and in free stream. On skysport.de and in the Sky Sport App You can follow the draw in the live blog and free stream. Even without a Sky subscription!
The draws for the new Europa League and the new Conference League will take place one day later on August 30th.
How does the draw work?
In the new CL format, eight different opponents must be drawn for each of the 36 teams. In total, all teams are divided into four pots, which are sorted according to the coefficient rule. Each club then gets two teams from each pot as opponents, each with one home and one away game.
While people have always drawn the CL groups manually in the past, a computer will now be used for the draw. It will therefore be a mixture of manual and automated drawing. The reason for this is that the new format would require around 900 balls, which would mean the drawing would take several hours. With the use of artificial intelligence, the drawing will last around 35 minutes as before.
A club will still be physically drawn from its draw pot, but then its eight opponents will be randomly assigned to it using automatic software.
The draw starts with the nine teams from pot one, including Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and defending champions Real Madrid. Each of these nine teams is randomly assigned two opponents from pots one to four within seconds using AELive’s software, and home advantage is also determined immediately. The procedure then continues in the same way with pots two to four.
CLICK THROUGH: This is what the prize pools look like
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ENGLAND: Manchester City (Champion, Pot One) © Imago -
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GERMANY: FC Bayern Munich (pot one) © DPA pa -
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SPAIN: Real Madrid (Champion, Pot One) © DPA pa -
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FRANCE: Paris St. Germain (Champion, Pot One) © DPA pa -
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ENGLAND: Liverpool FC (pot one) © Imago -
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ITALY: Inter Milan (Champion, Pot One) © DPA pa -
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GERMANY: Borussia Dortmund (pot one) © DPA pa -
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GERMANY: RB Leipzig (pot one) © Imago -
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SPAIN: FC Barcelona (pot one) © Imago -
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GERMANY: Bayer Leverkusen (Champion, pot two) © Imago -
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SPAIN: Atletico (pot two) © Imago -
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ITALY: Atalanta Bergamo (pot two) © DPA pa -
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ITALY: Juventus Turin (pot two) © Imago -
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PORTUGAL: Benfica (pot two) © DPA pa -
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ENGLAND: Arsenal FC (pot two) © DPA pa -
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BELGIUM: FC Bruges (Champion, Pot Two) © DPA pa -
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UKRAINE: Shakhtar Donetsk (Champion, Pot Two) © Imago -
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ITALY: AC Milan (pot two) © DPA pa -
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NETHERLANDS: Feyenoord Rotterdam (pot three) © Imago -
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PORTUGAL: Sporting (Champion, Pot Three) © Imago -
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NETHERLANDS: PSV Eindhoven (Champion, Pot Three) © Imago -
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SCOTLAND: Celtic (Champions, Pot Three) © Imago -
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AUSTRIA: FC Salzburg (pot three) © Imago -
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SWITZERLAND: BSC Young Boys Bern (pot three) © Imago -
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CROATIA: Dinamo Zagreb (Champion, Pot Three) © Imago -
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FRANCE: OSC Lille (pot three) © Imago -
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SERBIA: Red Star Belgrade (Champion, Pot Three) © Imago -
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FRANCE: AS Monaco (pot four) © Imago -
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ENGLAND: Aston Villa (pot four) © DPA pa -
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ITALY: FC Bologna (pot four) © Imago -
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SPAIN: FC Girona (pot four) © Imago -
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GERMANY: VfB Stuttgart (pot four) © Imago -
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AUSTRIA: Sturm Graz (Champion, Pot Four) © Imago -
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FRANCE: Stade Brest (pot four) © Imago -
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CZECH REPUBLIC: Sparta Prague (pot four) © Imago -
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SLOVAKIA: Slovan Bratislava (Champion, Pot Four) © Imago
In which pot are the German teams?
In the new format, only the CL winner from the previous year is automatically placed in pot one. While previously six champions and the EL winner were also in pot one, the allocation now takes place directly according to the coefficient rule. This means that FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig are in pot one, while Bayer Leverkusen finds itself in pot two despite winning the championship. VfB Stuttgart will be placed in pot four.
What restrictions are there on the draw?
Two restrictions have been imposed on the automated software. In the league phase, a club is not assigned opponents from its own country. In addition, each club may only play against a maximum of two opponents from the same national association. Furthermore, the software checks in advance to ensure that no so-called “deadlock” can arise and that opponents remain for the teams to be drawn later, despite these two restrictions.
When will the schedule be published?
The schedule with the match dates and kick-off times will be published on Saturday.
How does the new CL mode work?
In the 36-team league, the best eight teams from the preliminary round qualify directly for the round of 16. The knockout phase is played out in a fixed tournament tree. The teams that finish in places 9 to 24 after the group phase meet in a playoff round.
The respective winners will then be drawn on February 21, 2025 among the eight directly qualified and seeded clubs. The first-placed team in the league phase can meet the second-placed team in the final at the earliest. All knockout matches – apart from the final – will continue to be played as home and away matches.
The new Europa League will be played in the same format, with each team in the Conference League having “only” six games in the preliminary round. Unlike before, it is no longer possible to “be relegated” from the CL to the EL. For the teams in positions 25 to 36, the European Cup season is over, and the same applies to the Europa League.
When will the first match day take place?
The first matchday of the new CL season will take place from September 17 to 19, 2024. Games will be played on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, while the Europa League and Conference League will be suspended. However, at a later point in the season, both competitions will also receive an exclusive week for their respective competition.
The eighth and final matchday in the Champions League preliminary round will take place on January 29, 2025. On this day, all 36 teams will play in parallel!
The Champions League match dates at a glance:
- Matchday 1: 17./19. September 2024
- Matchday 2: 01./02. October 2024
- Matchday 3: 22./23. October 2024
- Matchday 4: 05./06. November 2024
- Matchday 5: 26./27. November 2024
- Matchday 6: 10/11 December 2024
- Matchday 7: 21st/22nd January 2025
- Matchday 8: 29 January 2025
- Knockout round play-offs: 11/12 and 18/19 February
- Round of 16: 04/05 and 11/12 March
- Quarterfinals: 08/09 and 15/16 April
- Semi-final: 29/30 April and 06/07 May
- Finale: 31 May in Munich
When and where is the CL final?
The first final of the new premier class will take place on May 31, 2025 in Munich’s Allianz Arena.
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