28/08/2024
Thanks to our superb performance in the Premier League, we will enter the Champions League for the 20th time in our history next season.
It is set to be a very different competition to the one we have been used to over the past couple of decades, with a new format and an expansion to 36 teams that needs getting to grips with.
Below we explain how that works, and try to work out which teams we could be pitted against when the action gets underway again in September.
How does the new format work?
To admit more clubs into the competition, UEFA have scrapped the traditional eight groups of four approach that supporters have become accustomed to.
There will now be a 36-team league phase, where all teams will compete against each other in a single table. Clubs will play eight matches in the new league phase, against eight different teams, split evenly between home and away games.
To determine the eight different opponents, teams will be ranked in four seeding pots, as has been the case for many years. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of the pots, playing one match from each pot at home, and one away.
How will teams reach the knockout stages?
The results of each match will decide the overall ranking in the new league, with the usual three points for a win and one for a draw awarded.
The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while those that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated. No teams from this season's Champions League will drop into the Europa League at any point.
At the end of the league phase, teams who finish on the same number of points will be separated by goal difference and goals scored. If another tiebreaker is needed, then the total points gained by the tied clubs' eight opponents are added up, effectively creating a difficulty level that will determine who had the toughest path.
The teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the Champions League. Those who finish between 9th and 16th will be seeded, and face one of the teams who finished 17th to 24th, with the second leg at the seeded team’s ground.
The eight play-off winners will then face one of the seeded top-eight finishers in the round of 16, when the competition returns to its traditional two-legged knockout method, albeit with a set bracket, meaning clubs will be able to plot our their potential paths to the final.
When will the games take place?
As usual, the competition will begin in September and run throughout the autumn and winter, but given there are two extra games to fit in, the league stage won't be completed until the end of January 2025.
From that point onwards, knockout games will be staged every month, right up until the end of May when the final will be held at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
Matchday 1: September 17–19, 2024
Matchday 2: October 1/2, 2024
Matchday 3: October 22/23, 2024
Matchday 4: November 5/6, 2024
Matchday 5: November 26/27, 2024
Matchday 6: December 10/11, 2024
Matchday 7: January 21/22, 2025
Matchday 8: January 29 2025
Knockout round play-offs: February 11/12 & 18/19, 2025
Round of 16: March 4/5 & 11/12, 2025
Quarter-finals: April 8/9 & 15/16, 2025
Semi-finals: April 29/30 & May 6/7, 2025
Final: May 31, 2025
Who has already qualified?
So far, we know 29 of the 36 teams who will be competing in the league stage, with the following earning their spots through domestic league qualification:
England: Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa
Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Atletico Madrid
Germany: Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig
Italy: Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Atalanta
France: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Brest
Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord
Portugal: Sporting Lisbon, Benfica
Belgium: Club Brugge
Scotland: Celtic
Austria: Sturm Graz
Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk
Meanwhile, Bologna and Borussia Dortmund have also qualified after Italy and Germany received an extra place after their club sides performed best in UEFA tournaments last season.
Currently, five teams will make their Champions League bow - Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest and Girona - while the latter two will taste European competition for the first time in their history.
Who else could qualify?
The final seven teams are being determined via a play-off round, and we now know some of the teams who have made it through to the draw.
Swiss side Young Boys beat Galatasaray 4-2 on aggregate after a 1-0 away win on Tuesday night, while successive 2-0 home and away victories saw Sparta Prague knock out Malmo.
Red Bull Salzburg ensured further Austrian representation after they eliminated Dynamo Kyiv after a 3-1 aggregate success, while Lille and Dinamo Zagreb hold decent leads heading into the second legs of their ties, while the other four teams will still hold hopes of reaching the league stage.
Completed ties
Young Boys 4-2 (agg) Galatasaray
Malmo 0-4 (agg) Sparta Prague
Dynamo Kyiv 1-3 (agg) Red Bull Salzburg
After first leg
Lille 2-0 Slavia Prague
Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 Qarabag
Midtjylland 1-1 Slovan Bratislava
Bodo/Glimt 2-1 Red Star Belgrade
Who could we end up playing?
We will be placed in Pot 2 due to our current UEFA coefficient ranking. Teams from the same nation cannot be drawn against each other, meaning we'll avoid Man City, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
That means we’ll face two of the remaining seven teams in Pot 1:
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
Paris Saint-Germain
Inter Milan
Borussia Dortmund
RB Leipzig
Barcelona
Plus two of these teams currently in Pot 2 alongside ourselves:
Bayer Leverkusen
Atletico Madrid
Atalanta
Juventus
Benfica
Club Brugge
Shakhtar Donetsk
AC Milan
Two teams in Pot 3, which currently looks like:
Feyenoord
Sporting Lisbon
PSV Eindhoven
Red Bull Salzburg
Young Boys
Celtic
Dinamo Zagreb/Qarabag
Lille/Slavia Prague
And finally two teams in Pot 4, which currently are:
Monaco
Sparta Prague
Bologna
Girona
Stuttgart
Sturm Graz
Brest
The following teams will be entered into either Pot 3 or 4 once their result is known:
Midtjylland/Slovan Bratislava
Bodo/Glimt/Red Star Belgrade
When will the draw be made?
The draw for the new 36-team league phase, where we will discover the eight opponents we will face off against, will take place on Thursday, August 29 - the day after the completion of the final play-off matches, and will start at 5pm UK time.
Given the complexities of adding four more teams into the procedure, it will now mainly be computerised, as UEFA state it would take 1,000 balls and over 36 bowls to replicate the draws of the past.
