SAM
Updated
The 70th edition of the Champions League, Europe's top club competition, is almost upon us, but it will be the first under the new format being implemented this season.
Real Madrid will be defending the title that they won earlier in 2024 against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley, but they will be going about it in a brand new way thanks to a total overhaul of the group stage process.
Dinamo Zagreb, Crvena Zvezda, Slavia Prague and Slovan Bratislava were the final four teams to seal their places in the Champions League on Wednesday night, and will now be awaiting to see which of the big clubs they will be facing.
And with that the draw for the League Phase of the Champions League is complete
Aston Villa
Bayern(h)
RB Leipzig (a)
Juventus (h)
Club Brugge (a)
Celtic (h)
Young Boys (a)
Bologna (h)
Monaco (a)
Brest
Real Madrid (h)
Barcelona (a)
Leverkusen (h)
Shakhtar (a)
PSV (h)
Salzburg (a)
Sturm Graz (h)
Sparta Prague (a)
Bologna
Dortmund (h)
Liverpool (a)
Shakhtar (h)
Benfica (a)
Lille (h)
Sporting CP (a)
Monaco (h)
Aston Villa (a)
Girona
Liverpool (h)
PSG (a)
Arsenal (h)
AC Milan (a)
Feyenoord (h)
PSV (a)
Bratislava (h)
Sturm Graz (a)
Stuttgart
PSG (h)
Real Madrid (a)
Atalanta (h)
Juventus (a)
Young Boys (h)
Red Star (a)
Sparta Prague (h)
Bratislava (a)
And Pot 3 is now complete, with just the teams in Pot 4 to learn their final two opponents
Sporting CP
Man City (h)
RB Leipzig (a)
Arsenal (h)
Club Brugge (a)
Lille (h)
PSV (a)
Bologna (h)
Sturm Graz (a)
Celtic
RB Leipzig (h)
Dortmund (a)
Club Brugges (h)
Atalanta (a)
Young Boys (h)
Dinamo (a)
Bratislava (h)
Aston Villa (a)
RB Salzburg
PSG (h)
Real Madrid (a)
Atletico (h)
Leverkusen (a)
Dinamo (h)
Feyenoord (a)
Brest (h)
Sparta Prague (a)
Crvena Zvezda
Barcelona (H)
Inter (A)
Benfica (H)
Milan (A)
PSV (H)
Young Boys (A)
Stuttgart (H)
AS Monaco (A)
Feyenoord
Bayern Munich (H)
Manchester City (A)
Leverkusen (H)
Benfica (A)
Salzburg (H)
Lille (A)
Sparta Praque (H)
Girona (A)
PSV
PSG (A)
Liverpool (H)
Juventus (A)
Shakhtar (H)
Sporting CP (H)
Crvena Zvezda (A)
Girona (H)
Brest (A)
Young Boys
Inter (H)
Barcelona (A)
Atalanta (H)
Shakhtar (A)
Crvena Zvezda (H)
Celtic (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Stuttgart (A)
That's Pot 1 and Pot 2 now drawn. Next up the teams in Pot 3 will learn their remaining fixtures.
Shakhtar Donetsk
Bayern Munich (H)
Dortmund (A)
Atalanta (H)
Arsenal (A)
Young Boys (H)
PSV (A)
Brest (H)
Bologna (A)
Juventus
Manchester City (H)
Leipzig (A)
Benfica (H)
Club Brugge (A)
PSV (H)
Lille (A)
Stuttgart (H)
Aston Villa (A)
AC Milan
Liverpool (H)
Real Madrid (A)
Club Brugge (H)
Leverkusen (A)
Crvena Zvezda (H)
Dinamo (A)
Girona (H)
Bratislava (A)
Benfica
Barcelona (H)
Bayern Munich (A)
Atletico Madrid (H)
Juventus (A)
Feyenoord (H)
Crvenz Zvezda (A)
Bologna (H)
AS Monaco (A)
Arsenal
Paris Saint Germain (H)
Inter (A)
Shakhtar (H)
Atalanta (A)
Dinamo (H)
Sporting CP (A)
AS Monaco (H)
Girona (A)
Bayer Leverkusen
Inter (H)
Liverpool (A)
AC Milan (H)
Atlético Madrid (A)
Salzburg (H)
Feyenoord (A)
Sparta Praque (H)
Stade Brest (A)
Club Brugge
Borussia Dortmund (H)
Manchester City (A)
Juventus (H)
AC Milan (A)
Sporting CP (H)
Celtic (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Sturm Graz (A)
Atalanta
Real Madrid (H)
Barcelona (A)
Arsenal (H)
Shakhtar (A)
Celtic (H)
Young Boys (A)
Sturm Graz (H)
Stuttgart (A)
Atletico Madrid
Leipzig (H)
Paris Saint-Germain (A)
Leverkusen (H)
Benfica (A)
Lille (H)
Salzburg (A)
Bratislava (H)
Sparta Praque (A)
PSG
Manchester City (H)
Bayern Munich (A)
Atlético Madrid (H)
Arsenal (A)
PSV (H)
Salzburg (A)
Girona (H)
Stuttgart (A)
Liverpool
Real Madrid (H)
RB Leipzig (A)
Leverkusen (H)
AC Milan (A)
Lille (H)
PSV (A)
Bologna (H)
Girona (A)
Barcelona
Bayern Munich (H)
Borussia Dortmund (A)
Atalanta (H)
Benfica (A)
Young Boys (H)
Crvena Zvezda (A)
Stade Brest (H)
AS Monaco (A)
Real Madrid will play Liverpool. Plus Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan
Borussia Dortmund (H)
Liverpool (A)
AC Milan (H)
Atalanta (A)
Salzburg (H)
Lille (A)
Stuttgart (H)
Stade Brest (A)
Borussia Dortmund will play Celtic. Plus Barcelona and Real Madrid, a repeat of the 2024 final
Barcelona (H)
Real Madrid (A)
Shakhtar (H)
Club Brugge (A)
Celtic (H)
Dinamo (A)
Sturm Graz (H)
Bologna (A)
Leipzig will play Liverpool, Celtic and Aston Villa
Bayern Munich will play Aston Villa. Plus PSG and Barcelona.
PSG (H)
Barcelona (A)
Benfica (H)
Shakhtar (A)
Dinamo (H)
Feyenoord (A)
Bratislava (H)
Aston Villa (A)
Inter Milan are next out and will play Manchester City (as we know) and Arsenal. Plus Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and more.
Manchester City (A)
Leipzig (H)
Arsenal (H)
Leverkusen (A)
Crvena Zvezda (H)
Young Boys (A)
AS Monaco (H)
Sparta Praque (A)
Manchester City first out of Pot 1 and they will play...
Inter Milan (home), PSG (away), Club Bruges (home), Juventus (away), Feyenoord (home), Sporting Lisbon (away), Sparta Prague (home), Slovan Bratislava (away).
Award for Cristiano
Cristiano Ronaldo, the UEFA Champions League's all-time top scorer, takes the stage to receive an award for his extraordinary achievements. UEFA President Aleksander eferin remarks, "If we think about football, we think about Ronaldo."
Reflecting on the significance of the UEFA Champions League, Ronaldo calls it "special" and speaks about the motivation he felt every time he heard the competition's anthem. With a smile, he adds, "The Champions League and goals are like ketchup - when you open them, they are coming," drawing laughs and applause from the audience.
President's Award
The ceremony kicked off with UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin taking the stage to present the President's Award to legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
"For me personally, he's the best goalkeeper in history," says Ceferin .
In which pot are LaLiga's representatives?
Spain will have four representatives in this year's edition of the Champions League in the form of reigning league and European champions Real Madrid, LaLiga runners-up Barcelona, Girona and Atletico Madrid.
Pot 1: Real Madrid and Barcelona
Pot 2: Atletico Madrid
Pot 4: Girona
The last teams to make it
Seven teams made it through to the Champions League group stage via the agonising ordeal of the playoffs. The lucky seven are Young Boys, Sparta Praha, Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Crvena Zvezda, Lille and Slovan Bratislava.
Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Praha will be in Pot 4, where they are expected to receive a very tough draw, while the other five sides are in Pot 3.
Who are the Champions League favorites?
Despite Real Madrid winning yet another Champions League trophy last season, the bookmakers believe that Manchester City are the best positioned to win Europe's top competition. In the following order, here are the favorites for this season's Champions League:
Man City +275
Real Madrid +300
Arsenal +900
Bayern Munich +1000
Liverpool +1200
Barcelona +1400
PSG +1600
Bayer Leverkusen +2000
Inter +2000
How the new format works
In the new format of the Champions League, each team will face eight different opponents, four home and four away games, but not against the same opponents, for which a draw will be made with four pots to determine the eight opponents. Each team will play against two opponents from each pot.
It will be the software company Aelive that will decide the order of the matches and the stadium to be played in.
In this new Champions League format, the first matchday will be played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (until now the Champions League was only played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays), and the last matchday will have 18 simultaneous matches. The remaining matchdays will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
How to follow the Champions League draw 2024/25
The draw for the Champions League 2024-2025 can be followed live on Paramount+ in the USA.
The draw will also be streamed live online via the Champions League website and UEFA YouTube channel.
The four pots of the Champions League
As always, the teams will be divided into four pots, based on their coefficient ranking in the competition. Only this time, there will be more teams in each due to the new format.
What time is the Champions League draw?
The Champions League draw for the 2024/25 season will take place on Thursday, August 29 at 18:00 CEST/12:00 ET. The event will be held in the glitzy location of Monaco.
The process of the draw will be as follows: the 36 qualified teams will be divided into four pots according to their UEFA coefficient. Real Madrid will head Pot 1 as reigning champions.
The teams in Pot 1 will be drawn first, followed by those in Pot 2, then Pot 3, and finally Pot 4. Each team will face two opponents from each pot at home and away.
