Explained: New Uefa Champions League format for 2024/25 season

Europe's top club competition will have more teams and new opening phase

The Champions League will be played according to a new format from this season. Getty Images

The Champions League draw for the 2024/25 season takes place on Thursday in Monaco and fans will get to see the premier European club competition in a new guise.

More teams, a new playing format and a departure from the traditional home and away fixtures against the same set of opponents are some of the salient features of the new format introduced by Uefa.

What is the new format for the Champions League 2024/25 season?

The new version of the Champions League sees a total of 36 clubs featuring in the competition, up from 32 under the old format.

Under the earlier version, 32 clubs were divided into eight groups of four in the group phase. However for the 2024/25 season, 36 clubs will take part in a “league phase” in a single league competition in which all competing teams are ranked together.

There is an additional place for the fifth-best European league according to Uefa's ranking, which means France's Ligue 1 now has three automatic qualifiers.

Also, there is an extra slot for each of the two leagues with the highest “coefficient ranking” from last season – Germany and Italy.

As of now, 32 teams have been finalised with four teams remaining from the final qualifying rounds.

How does the new format work?

According to Uefa, teams will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away. Instead, they will take on eight different teams, playing half of the matches at home and half away.

The teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away.

According to Uefa, the new system “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.” This has ostensibly been done to counter the threat posed by the breakaway Super League.

Previously, the group stage ended in December but the expanded tournament means the new phase will run into January.

The 36 clubs will be ranked together in one league, with the top eight progressing to the last 16 and so on.

Also, the number of games has increased from 96 in the old group stage, to 144 in the new league phase.

Which teams have qualified for the 2024/25 Champions League?

Real Madrid (ESP), Manchester City (ENG), Bayern Munich (GER), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Liverpool (ENG), Inter Milan (ITA), Borussia Dortmund (GER), RB Leipzig (GER), Barcelona (ESP), Bayer Leverkusen (GER), Atletico Madrid (ESP), Atalanta (ITA), Juventus (ITA), Benfica (POR), Arsenal (ENG), Club Brugge (BEL), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), AC Milan (ITA), Feyenoord (NED), Sporting (POR), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Celtic (SCO), Young Boys (SUI), Red Bull Salzburg (AUT), Monaco (FRA), Sparta Prague (CZE), Aston Villa (ENG), Sturm Graz (AUT), Bologna (ITA), Brest (FRA), Girona (ESP), VfB Stuttgart (GER)

Remaining teams: Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) or Qarabag (AZE), Slavia Prague (CZE) or Lille (FRA), Midtjylland (DEN) or Slovan Bratislava (SVK), Bodo/Glimt (NOR) or Red Star Belgrade (SRB)

When does the tournament start?

The Champions League 2024/24 league phase starts on September 17 and runs until January 29, 2025. The knockout phase begins on February 11 with the final on May 31.