Unlike previous years, where 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League will be executed under a new format. The draw for the league phase will take place in Monaco on Thursday, August 29 at 5 p.m. Nigerian time (17:00).
The UEFA website recently confirmed the clubs that have already qualified for the 2024/25 Champions League’s league phase. The fate of other clubs will be determined in the upcoming playoff matches.
The upcoming week in Monaco promises to be bustling with activity as clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League eagerly await to learn their group-stage opponents.
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Here are the teams that have qualified for the 2024/25 Champions League’s league phase:
England (4): Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City
Spain (4): Atlético de Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Real Madrid
Germany (5): Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, VfB Stuttgart
Italy (5): Atalanta, Bologna, Inter Milan, Juventus, AC Milan
France (3): Brest, AS Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain
Netherlands (2): Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven
Portugal (2): Benfica, Sporting CP
Belgium (1): Club Brugge
Scotland (1): Celtic
Austria (1): Sturm Graz
Ukraine (1): Shakhtar Donetsk
Moreover, two additional places (Bologna and Dortmund) were filled by the European Performance Spots, while the final seven slots will be determined through qualifying matches.
The UEFA Champions League is undergoing fairly major changes for the 2024/25 season.
Real Madrid won a record-extending 15th title in 2024/24, defeating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the final, to mark the end of an era of Europe’s most prestigious club trophy.
From this year onwards, the early stage of the tournament is being changed quite significantly. The format will move from a group phase to a ‘league phase’, with the list of clubs expanded and the number of matches each team plays increased. UEFA is confident the alterations will make for a more exciting competition in which “bigger” clubs will face one another more often.
What is the ‘league phase’ and how does it work?
The new league phase sees 36 teams pitted together in one big table, rather than divided into groups of four.
The draw is then used to determine which teams will face one another during this first phase of the tournament. Each team will play against eight others, with four matches at home, and four away. Teams earn three points for a win and one for a draw, as is commonly the case in league football around the world.
At the end of the league phase, the top eight sides in the table will qualify automatically for the Round of 16. Teams who placed from ninth to 24th will go into a playoff round, with seeded sides from 9th to 16th drawn against unseeded opponents from 17th to 24th. The winners of those two-legged playoff ties will also advance to the Round of 16.
The bottom 12 teams at the end of the league phase are eliminated.
Seedings will still be used for the draw itself, a bit like with the old group stage, so that teams are drawn against a mixture of opponents in terms of Champions League experience and pedigree. There will be four seeding pots, and every team will be drawn to play a match against two teams from each pot. In UEFA’s own words: “This gives the opportunity for clubs to test themselves against a wider range of opponents and raises the prospect for fans of seeing the top teams go head to head more often and earlier in the competition. It will also result in more competitive matches for every club across the board.”
Can teams still drop into the Europa League?
Previously, teams who finished third in their Champions League group had a certain reprieve as they would drop into the Europa League (or, in recent seasons, a Europa League playoff round). However, that is no longer the case.
From 2024/25 onwards, the teams that finish in the bottom 12 places of the Champions League’s league phase do not drop into the Europa League. Instead, they are eliminated entirely from European competition for that season.
How does the knockout phase work?
The knockout phase has had little change, despite the new expanded format for the league phase.
A total of 16 teams — the top eight teams in the league table, plus the winners of the playoff ties — will qualify for the Round of 16. From there, the old format of two-legged knockout ties is still in place: the winners of each tie advance to the quarterfinals, then semifinals, and the final.
When is the 2025 Champions League final?
The 2025 Champions League final will take place on May 31. It will be held at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.
Note that Russian teams remain suspended from participating in UEFA competitions due to political reasons following the invasion of Ukraine. UEFA has made it clear that the participation of Russian teams will remain suspended until further notice.