New Champions League format explained
The Champions League has been revamped for the 2024-25 season with a new 36-team single league phase replacing the old group stage.
It is the biggest change to Europe’s premier club competition since the old European Cup was rebranded to the Champions League in 1992 and means all teams will play two more games – eight rather than six – in the first stage, which will not be completed until the end of January.
Format
Previously, the Champions League was organised into eight groups containing four sides, with the top two from each group progressing through to the knockout stage.
But the new format sees a new 36-team league phase introduced with each side playing eight games, four home and four away, all against different opponents.
The teams that finish in the top eight will then qualify automatically for the knockout phase, while those finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to try and also secure a spot in the last-16.
Those who finish 9th-16th will be seeded and will host the second leg of their play-off tie at home, while teams ranked 17th-24th will play the first leg at home.
The winners will then join the top eight in the round of 16.
The teams finishing 25th to 36th will be eliminated from all European competitions this season, with no entry for the bottom 12 into the Europa League.
In the knockout stage, the competition reverts back to a familiar straight knockout format featuring a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, with all games, apart from the final, played over two legs.
Who has qualified for the Champions League?
As usual, the best teams in Europe are all preparing to take part in the Champions League, including reigning champions Real Madrid, Premier League giants Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool and fellow contintental heavyweights Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
Atalanta are amongst this year’s hopefuls after they won the Europa League last term, while fellow Italian sides Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus and Bologna are also included.
German champions Bayer Leverkusen are joined by Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart and last season’s beaten finalists, Borussia Dortmund, alongside French sides Brest and Monaco.
Aston Villa are in the Champions League for the first time after finishing fourth in the Premier League, while Girona are also preparing for their debut in the competition after coming third in Spain.
Dutch duo PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord have made it, as have Portuguese pair Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, while Scottish champions Celtic, Belgian outfit Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine and Austrian side Sturm Graz are among the other clubs to have qualified.
The final seven teams – Young Boys, Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava, Red Star Belgrade, Sparta Prague, Lille and RB Salzburg – have all come through Champions League qualifying to make the main stage.
Key dates for the Champions League
There will be eight matchdays in the new league phase, starting with an exclusive Champions League-only week between September 17-19 with matchday eight set to take place on January 29 2025.
All matches will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except for the competition's exclusive week, which also includes Thursday fixtures.
All fixtures on the final matchday will be played simultaneously.
- Matchday 1 - September 17-19
- Matchday 2 - October 1 and 2
- Matchday 3 - October 22 and 23
- Matchday 4 - November 5 and 6
- Matchday 5 - November 26 and 27
- Matchday 6 - December 10 and 11
- Matchday 7 - January 21 and 22
- Matchday 8 - January 29
The draw for the play-off round, made up of the sides finishing 9th-24th, will be conducted on January 31 2025, with those games taking place over two legs on February 11 and 12 February 18 and 19.
The round of 16 has been scheduled for March 4 and 5 2025 (first legs) and March 11 and 12 (second legs), with the quarter-finals taking place on April 8 and 9 and April 15 and 16.
The semi-final first legs are set to be played on April 29 and 30, with the second legs on May 6 and 7, with the final, which will be hosted by the Allianz Arena in Munich, given a date of May 31 2025.
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