The draw for the new Champions League format is imminent. Find out everything you need to know about this event.
The Champions League has been revamped for the 2024-25 season, with an increased number of participants and a completely new format introduced by UEFA.
Real Madrid are the reigning champions and the Spanish giants can expect strong competition from Europe’s elite, including giants like Manchester City, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and many others. For the first time in history, the competition will bring together four French clubs. In addition to PSG, Monaco, and Brest, LOSC has managed to invite itself to the continental grand mass.
Now that the qualifiers and play-offs have been dispatched, it’s time for the draw for the 2024-25 Champions League league phase. Daily Stand brings you everything you need to know.
When will the Champions League draw take place?
| Date | August 29, 2024 |
| Time | 6:00 PM WAT |
| Place | Grimaldi Forum, Monaco |
The draw for the 2024-25 Champions League’s League phase will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday 29 August 2024. UEFA has confirmed a start time of 18:00 CET.
As excitement builds for the Champions League draw, fans are eager to find out which teams will be competing in this prestigious tournament. Apart from the live streaming information and the format of the competition, it is interesting to know the list of participants with several newcomers who will be in the game this year. Stade Brestois is one of them.
On which channel can I watch the Champions League draw?
The draw will be streamed live and free of charge on UEFA’s official website, uefa.com, and will also be broadcast on several of UEFA’s broadcast partner networks.
The Champions League matches are broadcast exclusively on Canal+ this season. The encrypted channel will therefore broadcast the draw. To watch it in streaming, simply go to the MyCanal app.
Champions League draw pots and qualified teams
Below, discover all the pots planned for the Champions League draw.
| Pots | Teams |
|---|---|
| Pots 1 | Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich, PSG, Liverpool, Inter, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona |
| Pots 2 | Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan |
| Pots 3 | Feyenoord, Sporting, PSV, Celtic, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Lille, Red Star Belgrade, Young Boys. |
| Pots 4 | Monaco, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Brest, Slovan Bratislava, Sparta Prague. |
The new format for the 2024-25 Champions League will see the introduction of a league stage instead of a group stage, with 36 teams – four more than the previous group stage format – involved in the championship.
However, unlike a normal league, where each team plays each other home and away, the teams in the Champions League ‘league phase’ will only face eight different teams, with four home games and four away games.
This is where the seeding pots come in. Each team will be drawn against two teams from each pot, playing one team from each pot at home and one team from each pot away.
So, for example, Real Madrid could be drawn against Manchester City, Bayern Munich (pot 1), Juventus, Arsenal (pot 2), Feyenoord, Celtic (pot 3), Monaco and Aston Villa (pot 4).
The top eight teams in the league advance to the knockout stages of the Champions League, while the teams finishing 9th to 24th will play in a knockout round for the right to advance to the knockout stages. The bottom 12 teams are eliminated from all competitions, with no possibility of transfer to the Europa League.
When will the Champions League phase start?
| Matchday | Date(s) |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | September 17 – 19 |
| Day 2 | October 1 – 2 |
| Day 3 | October 22 – 23 |
| Day 4 | November 5 – 6 |
| Day 5 | November 26 – 27 |
| Day 6 | December 10 – 11 |
| Day 7 | January 21-22 |
| Day 8 | January 29 |
The 2024–25 Champions League championship phase will begin on 17 September 2024 and will consist of a total of eight matchdays, ending on 29 January 2025.
