The new UEFA Champions League truly begins for fans around the world with the draw for the first phase of the competition on 29 August.
The final seven teams of the 36 that make up the “league phase” qualified via the playoffs this week to earn their place in the draw in Monaco.
The draw for the 2024/25 season will be slightly different. The new league phase will replace the traditional group stage, meaning each team will play eight games instead of six, and the prospect of the ‘big’ teams playing each other earlier in the tournament has been increased.
The full draw is below, with the exact fixture schedule yet to be finalised.
?? Full Champions League draw. pic.twitter.com/PdifbQf71T
-Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 29, 2024
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UEFA Champions League draw: 2024/25 league phase
| Club | Pot 1 opponents | Pot 2 opponents | Pot 3 opponents | Pot 4 opponents | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | Far | Home | Far | Home | Far | Home | Far | |
| Real Madrid (RMA) | DOR | Professional Football League (LFC) | MIL | ATA | SAL | Little | STU | BRIEF |
| Manchester City (MCI) | INT | PSG | BRU | JUV | FAIRY | SPO | SPA | SLB |
| Bayern Munich (BMU) | PSG | BAR | BEN | SHK | DZA | FAIRY | SLB | AVL |
| Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) | MCI | BMU | ATM | ARS | PSV | SAL | GIR | STU |
| Liverpool (LFC) | RMA | LEI | LEV | MIL | Little | PSV | BOWL | GIR |
| Inter Milan (INT) | LEI | MCI | ARS | LEV | ZVE | YB | MON | SPA |
| Borussia Dortmund (DOR) | BAR | RMA | SHK | BRU | CEL | DZA | SGR | BOWL |
| RB Leipzig (LEI) | Professional Football League (LFC) | INT | JUV | ATM | SPO | CEL | AVL | SGR |
| Barcelona (BAR) | BMU | DOR | ATA | BEN | YB | ZVE | BRIEF | MON |
| Bayer Leverkusen (LEV) | INT | Professional Football League (LFC) | MIL | ATM | SAL | FAIRY | SPA | BRIEF |
| Atletico Madrid (ATM) | LEI | PSG | LEV | BEN | Little | SAL | SLB | SPA |
| Atalanta (ATA) | RMA | BAR | ARS | SHK | CEL | YB | SGR | STU |
| Juventus (JUV) | MCI | LEI | BEN | CB | PSV | Little | STU | AVL |
| Benfica (BEN) | BAR | BAY | ATM | JUV | FAIRY | ZVE | BOWL | MON |
| Arsenal (ARS) | PSG | INT | SHK | ATA | DZA | SPO | MON | GIR |
| Club Bruges (BRU) | DOR | MCI | JUV | MIL | SPO | CEL | AVL | SGR |
| Shakhtar Donetsk (SHK) | BMU | DOR | ATA | ARS | YB | PSV | BRIEF | BOWL |
| AC Milan (MIL) | Professional Football League (LFC) | RMA | CB | LEV | ZVE | DZA | GIR | SLB |
| Feyenoord (FEY) | BMU | MCI | LEV | BEN | SAL | Little | SPA | BIR |
| Sporting CP (SPO) | MCI | LEI | ARS | BRU | Little | PSV | BOWL | SGR |
| PSV (PSV) | Professional Football League (LFC) | PSG | SHK | JUV | SPO | ZVE | GIR | BRIEF |
| Celtic (CEL) | LEI | DOR | BRU | ATA | YB | DZA | SLB | AVL |
| Young Boys (YB) | INT | BAR | ATA | SHK | ZVE | CEL | SVL | STU |
| Lille (LIL) | RMA | Professional Football League (LFC) | JUV | ATM | FAIRY | SPO | SGR | BOWL |
| Dinamo Zagreb (DZA) | DOR | BAY | MIL | ARS | CEL | SAL | MON | SLB |
| Red Star (ZVE) | BAR | INT | BEN | MIL | PSV | YB | STU | MON |
| Red Bull Salzburg (SAL) | PSG | RMA | ATM | LEV | DZA | FAIRY | BRIEF | SPA |
| Monaco (MON) | BAR | INT | BEN | ARS | ZVE | DZA | AVL | BOWL |
| Aston Villa (AVL) | BM | LEI | JUV | CB | CEL | YB | BOWL | MON |
| Bologna (BOL) | DOR | Professional Football League (LFC) | SHK | BEN | Little | SPO | MON | AVL |
| Girona (GIR) | Professional Football League (LFC) | PSG | ARS | MIL | FAIRY | PSV | SLB | SGR |
| Stuttgart (STU) | PSG | RMA | ATA | JUV | YB | ZVE | SPA | SLB |
| Graz Storm (SGR) | LEI | DOR | CB | ATA | SPO | Little | GIR | BRIEF |
| Brest (BRE) | RMA | BAR | LEV | SHK | PSV | SAL | SGR | SPA |
| Slovan Bratislava (SLB) | MCI | BM | MIL | ATM | DZA | CEL | STU | GIR |
| Sparta Prague (ESP) | INT | MCI | ATM | LEV | SPO | FAIRY | BRIEF | STU |
UEFA Champions League 2024/25 draw: Live updates
POT 4 draw: And we’re all set! Incredibly, Sturm Graz have perhaps one of the easiest draws in the entire competition, and could be a surprise contender for a Pot 4 knockout spot. Thanks for joining us!
POT 3 draw: We’re done with Pot 3, which means the draw is almost over! All that’s left is the Pot 4 inter-pot matchups to be revealed.
POT 2 draw: The second team list is now complete! AC Milan have a very difficult draw, while Arsenal have an uninviting table outside of the teams in Pot 1.
POT 1 draw: The draw for Pot 1 is over and it features some great matchups! Real Madrid will travel to face Liverpool at Anfield, while Borussia Dortmund have drawn Barcelona and Real Madrid.
PSG face a real challenge from top to bottom, with perhaps the two toughest teams in each pot. It will be extremely difficult for them to reach the knockout stage.
30 minutes in: They have just explained how the draw will be conducted. The teams will be drawn one by one by hand, which is just a formality. The bulk of the draw will be done by a computer program that will take the team in the hand draw and assign them their eight opponents, classifying them as home or away.
In the end, it’s quite simple.
20 minutes in: UEFA have just released what can only be described as the craziest clip explaining the new Champions League format. Zlatan Ibrahimovic just angrily explained the format to Aleksander Ceferin, as if it was his idea, while an orchestra played the UCL anthem in the background. It was bizarre, but quite funny!
You can watch the 5-minute clip here:
A new era begins.
The world’s best club competition just got better.#UCLdraw || #UCL pic.twitter.com/XWcKlgrpLd
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 29, 2024
15 minutes in: Ceferin now pays tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo who accepts a trophy in recognition of his title as the Champions League’s all-time top scorer. The trophy is a stylized version of the UCL’s Ballon d’Or.
“Goals in the Champions League are like ketchup. Once you open it, they keep coming”
This is a PRIMO quote from Cristiano Ronaldo ???
— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) August 29, 2024
10 minutes in: UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin is on stage to present the President’s Award to legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Gigi is a highly regarded player! He will be included in the draw once it starts.
Start of the draw: Here we go! The draw is about to begin, although we know how these things go, they will surely take their time.
15 minutes to draw: Once the draw is complete, UEFA will take its time to set the dates and times of the matches. It looks like this information will not be released until the weekend.
Once the tickets are distributed, each team will take care of the primary market. Fans can still get tickets on the secondary market via StubHub Internationalwhich are the best places to find tickets to Champions League matches.
45 minutes to draw: As you already know, today’s draw will be the first of the new era of the Champions League “league phase”. Curious to know how it will go? Read on.
1 hour to draw: Welcome to today’s UEFA Champions League draw! This is the first draw under the new ‘Swiss model’ format, which features an expanded draw of 36 teams for a league stage.
? Composition of the championship phases!#UCLdraw | #UCL pic.twitter.com/yFs5uipkfQ
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 28, 2024
Which teams will be in the UEFA Champions League draw?
Below are the 36 teams selected for the Champions League group stage. The teams have been divided into four groups and each team will be drawn to face one team from each group.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid (holder) | Bayer Leverkusen | Feyenoord | Monaco |
| Manchester City | Atletico Madrid | Sporting CP | Aston Villa |
| Bayern Munich | Atalanta | PSV | Bologna |
| Paris Saint-Germain | Juventus | Celtic | Girona |
| Liverpool | Benfica | Dinamo Zagreb | Stuttgart |
| Inter Milan | Arsenal | Salzburg | The storm in Graz |
| Borussia Dortmund | Club Bruges | Lille | Brest |
| RB Leipzig | Shakhtar Donetsk | Red star | Slovakian Bratislava |
| Barcelona | AC Milan | Young boys | Sparta of Prague |
How to buy tickets for the 2024/25 Champions League
Once the dates and times of the Champions League matches have been confirmed, the ticket purchasing process will begin. Apart from the final itself, tickets cannot be purchased directly from UEFA for European matches.
Instead, the main ticket sales are being handled by the participating clubs themselves so that fans can access them seamlessly, as they would for other matches.
Once tickets are distributed, fans can still obtain tickets on the secondary market, with StubHub International as the best place to find tickets to Champions League matches.
Where to watch UEFA Champions League 2024/25
