The 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League begins this Thursday, August 29, with the draw for the group stage of the competition, which in this new edition will experience a radical change, since the group stage will no longer be as we know it. In its new configuration, the continental tournament has gone from 32 to 36 clubs, which will face each other in a group format.
The draw, which will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo from 6:00 p.m. (6:00 PM, CEST), will be carried out semi-automatically. The 36 teams will be drawn manually using physical balls. For each team drawn manually, an automated software will randomly draw eight rivals from the four pots, which will be announced on screen in the room and on television.
Each team will face 8 rivals, two from each pot (including the pot they are in), with restrictions that they cannot face teams from their own country and cannot face more than two rivals who share the same country. FC Barcelona, for example, is part of pot 1 and will not be able to face Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid and Girona. In total, each club will play 8 matches in the league phase, which will not be home and away, with the software deciding which matches will be played at home and which away.
The knockout phase will be decided by a classification table made up of the 36 teams. From 1 to 8 they directly qualify for the round of 16; from 9 to 24 they will play the play-off phase to qualify for the next round and from 25 to 36 they will be eliminated from all competition, without the possibility of reaching the Europa League. From the round of 16 onwards, the competition system is the same as that used in recent years. The first day of the Champions League group stage will be played between 17 and 19 September and the draw can be seen in Spain on Movistar Liga de Campeones.
The pots for the UCL group stage draw
- Pot 1: Manchester City, Bayern Múnich, PSG, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milán, Borussia Dortmund y RB Leipzig.
- Pot 2: Bayer Leverkusen, Atlético de Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Brujas, Shakhtar Donetsk y AC Milán.
- Pot 3: Feyenoord, Sporting de Lisboa, PSV, Dinamo Zagreb, RB Salzburgo, Lille, Young Boys, Estrella Roja y Celtic.
- Pot 4: Slovan Bratislava, AS Mónaco, Sparta Praga, Aston Villa, Bolonia, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz y Brest.
The live draw
VIA THIS LINK YOU CAN FOLLOW THE DRAW FOR THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP PHASE ON UEFA.TV
Follow the Champions League on FCBN
Regardless of the final distribution of the group stage, remember that from ‘FCBN’ you can follow the draw live, as well as being informed of all the Champions League commitments and the rest of the competitions in which FC Barcelona participates in the 2024-25 season, through this link.
