UEFA Champions League 2024-25 draw: All you need to know
The UEFA Champions League 2024-25 draw has pitted Manchester City against Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan in the revamped league phase. The new format involves a single league of 36 teams, with each team playing four home and four away games. The top eight sides will advance directly to the round of 16, while a play-off round will determine the remaining eight teams. Here are the further details.
Man City and Liverpool's fixtures in the Champions League
In addition to PSG and Inter Milan, 2022-23 winners Manchester City will also face the likes of Juventus, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, Sparta Prague, and Slovan Bratislava. Fellow Premier League side Liverpool will host a home fixture against reigning champions Real Madrid. Their schedule also includes matches against RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan, Lille, PSV Eindhoven, Bologna and Girona.
Arsenal and Aston Villa's fixtures in the league phase
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, drawn from pot two, will face the likes of PSG, Atalanta and Inter Milan. Their other opponents are Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Sporting Lisbon, Monaco and Girona. Unai Emery's Aston Villa has been paired with Bayern Munich for a home encounter. They will also host Juventus and Scottish champions Celtic. Villa's remaining fixtures are against Leipzig, Club Brugge, Young Boys Bologna and Monaco.
Buffon and Ronaldo conduct the draw
The draw was conducted by former Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon with Cristiano Ronaldo allocating eight computer-generated opponents. This new format ensures that every club is guaranteed a minimum of eight league-stage games against different teams (four home games and four away).
Here's how teams were divided in the new format
A total of 36 teams will play eight matches each in the new league phase. They will no longer face the same three opponents in their group twice - home and away. But they will now face eight different teams. The matches will be equally divided into home and away fixtures. To determine the opponents, teams were ranked in four seeding pots.
Home and away fixtures of Man City, Inter and Bayern
Manchester City: Inter Milan (h) PSG (a) Club Brugge (h) Juventus (a) Feyenoord (h) Sporting CP (a) Sparta Prague (h) Slovan Bratislava (a). Inter Milan: RB Leipzig (h) Man City (a) Arsenal (h) Bayer Leverkusen (a) Red Star Belgrade (h) Young Boys (a) Monaco (h) Sparta Prague (a). Bayern Munich: PSG (h) Barcelona (a) Benfica (h) Shakhtar Donetsk (a) Dinamo Zagreb (h) Feyenoord (a) Solvan Bratislava (h) Aston Villa (a).
Home and away fixtures of Leipzig, Dortmund and Barcelona
RB Leipzig: Liverpool (h) Inter Milan (a) Juventus (h) Atletico Madrid (a) Sporting CP (h) Celtic (a) Aston Villa (h) Sturm Graz (a). Borussia Dortmund: Barcelona (h) Real Madrid (a) Shakhtar Donetsk (h) Club Brugge (a) Celtic (h) Dinamo Zagreb (a) Sturm Graz (h) Bologna (a). Barcelona: Bayern Munich (h) Borussia Dortmund (a) Atalanta (h) Benfica (a) Young Boys (h) Red Star Belgrade (a) Brest (h) Monaco (a).
Home and away fixtures of Leipzig, Dortmund, Barcelona and Atletico
Real Madrid: Borussia Dortmund (h) Liverpool (a) Milan (h) Atalanta (a) Salzburg (h) Lille (a) Stuttgart (h) Brest (a). Liverpool: Real Madrid (h) RB Leipzig (a) Bayer Leverkusen (h) Milan (a) Lille (h) PSV (a) Bologna (h) Girona (a). PSG: Man City (h) Bayern Munich (a) Atletico Madrid (h) Arsenal (a) PSV (h) Salzburg (a) Girona (h) Stuttgart (a). Atletico Madrid: RB Leipzig (h) PSG (a) Leverkusen (h) Benfica (a) Lille (h) Salzburg (a) Solvan Bratislava (h) Sparta Prague (a).
Home and away fixtures of Atalanta, Leverkusen and Arsenal
Atalanta: Real Madrid (h) Barcelona (a) Arsenal (h) Shakhtar Donetsk (a) Celtic (h) Young Boys (a) Sturm Graz (h) Stuttgart (a). Bayer Leverkusen: Inter Milan (h) Liverpool (a) AC Milan (h) Atletico Madrid (a) Salzburg (h) Feyenoord (a) Sparta Prague (h) Brest (a) Arsenal: PSG (h) Inter Milan (a) Shakhtar Donestsk (h) Atalanta (a) Dinamo Zagreb (h) Sporting CP (a) Monaco (h) Girona (a).
Home and away fixtures of Benfica, AC Milan and Juventus
Benfica: Barcelona (h) Bayern Munich (a) Atletico Madrid (h) Juventus (a) Feyenoord (h) Red Star Belgrade (a) Bologna (h) Monaco (a). AC Milan: Liverpool (h) Real Madrid (a) Club Brugge (h) Bayer Leverkusen (a) Red Star Belgrade (h) Dinamo Zagreb (a) Girona (h) Slovan Bratislava (a). Juventus: Man City (h) RB Leipzig (a) Benfica (h) Club Brugge (a) PSV (h) Lille (a) Stuttgart (h) Aston Villa (a).
Pot 1 teams
Pot 2 teams
Pot 3 teams
Pot 4 teams
Here are the key dates
Champions League league-stage matches: Matchday 1: September 17-19, 2024 Matchday 2: October 1/2, 2024 Matchday 3: October 22/23, 2024 Matchday 4: November 5/6, 2024 Matchday 5: November 26/27, 2024 Matchday 6: December 10/11, 2024 Matchday 7: January 21/22, 2025 Matchday 8: January 29, 2025. Knockout round play-offs: February 11/12 and February 18/19, 2025. Round of 16: March 4/5 and March 11/12, 2025. Quarter-finals: April 8/9 and April 15/16, 2025 Semi-finals: April 29/30 and May 6/7, 2025 Final: May 31, 2025.
