36 TEAMS WILL SEEK TO LIFT THE CHAMPIONS
How will the new Champions League draw work?
The 2024/2025 Champions League season is about to get underway. For this campaign, UEFA has modernised the competition, which will feature more clubs and a major change to the group stage, which completely changed the way the draw is made.
The world is waiting for the new Champions League campaign. The clubs' top continental competition will have its main modification in the group stage, which will be renamed the 'league stage'. This means that each of the 36 teams will play eight games against eight different teams, instead of facing three teams twice as was previously the case.
To determine who the eight rivals will be, the teams will be divided into four pots based on the individual coefficient of each club at the beginning of the season. To give an example, FC Barcelona is ranked 18th in the latest update. The only exception will be the reigning champion of the competition, who will always be seeded in Pot 1. Each team will face two rivals from each pot, one at home and one away.
This system will also be applied in the Europa League, while in the Conference League each team will face only six rivals, one from each of the six pots. In the league phase, clubs cannot face opponents from the same country and can be paired against a maximum of two teams from the same country.
This is how the Champions League draw will work
The draw will be held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo on August 29. The 36 teams will be drawn manually through physical balls. For each team drawn manually, automated software will randomly draw eight rivals among the four pots, which will be announced on the screen in the room and on television. The software will also decide which matches will be played at home and which will be played away.
The draw will begin with pot 1, assigning eight rivals to the nine teams, one after the other. Then, it will continue with the other pots in descending order until all teams have their eight opponents assigned. The software will guarantee total randomness within the framework of the draw conditions stipulated by the regulations.
Although all teams will know all their rivals at the end of the draw, the list of pairings with match dates and times will be made later. It will be announced on Saturday, August 31, to ensure there are no schedule clashes with Europa League and Conference League teams playing in the same cities.
Teams classified for the groups phase
Bass drum 1: Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Inter of Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, FC Barcelona
Bass drum 2: Bayer Leverkusen, Athletic of Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Witches, Shakhtar Donetsk
Bass drum 3: Feyenoord, Sporting of Lisbon, PSV
Bass drum 4: Sturm Graz, Stade Brest
The rest of classified teams will have to expect to be asginados in the bass drums in function of his coefficient UEFA.
