With qualification full and the pots set, the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League season is upon us, however it should start on a really completely different observe than in years previous. Thursday’s draw unofficially kicks off a season filled with intrigue and uncertainty, and never solely due to the perennial query of which crew will elevate Europe’s prime membership prize within the spring. UEFA will introduce a brand new format this season, switching to a Swiss-system match that may take middle stage at this yr’s draw. The Champions League is swapping out the group stage for the league section, including 4 extra groups and two extra video games to the schedule within the course of. Consequently, this yr’s draw is not going to solely map out every crew’s path to the Champions League closing in Munich but additionally provide a primary glimpse at how the new-look competitors will work.

Here is what you want to know earlier than tuning in.

How you can watch

Introducing the brand new format

The brand new-look Champions League will start with the league section, which begins on acquainted terrain by putting groups in 4 pots based mostly on their UEFA membership coefficients. (The lone exception are reigning champions Actual Madrid, who had been routinely positioned into Pot 1 after successful a document fifteenth Champions League title in June, however would have probably earned that placement anyway.)

Every crew will probably be drawn in opposition to eight completely different opponents, two from every pot, and can play 4 of these video games at house and 4 away. This marks the primary time groups within the Champions League will face groups from their very own pot, a change supposed to extend the competitiveness and leisure worth of the competitors in its earlier levels. Groups will probably be ranked in a league desk in the course of the league section, with the highest 24 advancing to the knockout levels.

The knockout levels of the Champions League can even have a distinct look this season. The highest eight groups after the league section will advance straight to the spherical of 16, whereas groups ranked 9 by 24 will sq. off in opposition to one another within the knockout spherical playoffs for an opportunity to play within the spherical of 16. The match performs out in a well-recognized format from there as groups compete to play within the Might 31 closing at Munich’s Allianz Area.

League section pots

• Pot 1: Actual Madrid, Manchester Metropolis, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona
• Pot 2: Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Membership Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan
• Pot 3: Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven, Crimson Bull Salzburg, Younger Boys, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, Lille, Crvena Zvezda
• Pot 4: Monaco, Sparta Prague, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Brest, Slovan Bratislava

League section matchdays

• Recreation 1: Sept. 17-19
• Recreation 2: Oct. 1-2
• Recreation 3: Oct. 22-23
• Recreation 4: Nov. 5-6
• Recreation 5: Nov. 26-27
• Recreation 6: Dec. 10-11
• Recreation 7: Jan. 21-22 (2025)
• Recreation 8: Jan. 29 (2025)