The group stage draw for the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League took place on the evening of August 29 in Monaco, unveiling a new format for the tournament.

For the first time in 21 years, the Champions League is undergoing significant changes, including the elimination of the traditional group stage. The number of teams has expanded from 32 to 36. Previously, the competition featured 32 clubs divided into eight groups of four, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout rounds. The new format introduces a combination of computer-assisted and manual methods for drawing the fixtures, with UEFA dividing the 36 teams into four seeded pots based on their 2024 UEFA club rankings.

This new structure increases the number of group stage matches from 96 to 144, promising more high-profile clashes between elite teams. The reigning champions, Real Madrid, are in Pot 1 along with Manchester City, Bayern Munich, PSG, Liverpool, Inter Milan, runners-up Borussia Dortmund, and RB Leipzig. Pot 2 includes Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, and AC Milan. Pot 3 features Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, Salzburg, Lille, Crvena Zvezda, and Young Boys, while Pot 4 contains AS Monaco, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Brest, Sparta Prague, and Slovan Bratislava.

When a team is drawn from the seeded pots, the computer will immediately determine its opponents based on preset criteria. Each team will play eight group stage matches (up from the previous six), comprising four home and four away games, starting from September 17. Rankings will be based on points, with goal difference serving as the tiebreaker. After the group stage, the top eight teams will advance directly to the Round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 16th will face off against teams ranked 17th to 24th in playoff rounds to determine the remaining eight qualifiers. Teams finishing in 25th place and below will be eliminated.

Manchester City’s draw appears favorable, with their opponents including Inter Milan (home), PSG (away), Club Brugge (home), Juventus (away), Feyenoord (home), Sporting (away), Sparta Prague (home), and Slovan Bratislava (away).

Inter Milan’s fixtures include Leipzig (home), Manchester City, Arsenal (home), Leverkusen (away), Red Star Belgrade (home), Young Boys (away), AS Monaco (home), and Sparta Prague (away).

Bayern Munich will face PSG, Barcelona (away), Benfica (home), Shakhtar Donetsk (away), Dinamo Zagreb (home), Feyenoord (away), Slovan Bratislava (home), and Aston Villa (away).

RB Leipzig will go up against Liverpool (home), Inter Milan, Juventus (home), Atletico Madrid (away), Sporting Lisbon (home), Celtic (away), Aston Villa (home), and Sturm Graz (away).

Borussia Dortmund, last season’s runners-up, faces a challenging group with matches against Barcelona (home), Real Madrid (away), Shakhtar Donetsk (home), Club Brugge (away), Celtic (away), Dinamo Zagreb (home), Sturm Graz (away), and Bologna (home).

Barcelona will confront Bayern Munich and Dortmund, followed by Atalanta (home), Benfica (away), Young Boys (home), Red Star Belgrade (away), Brest (home), and AS Monaco (away).

Real Madrid also faces a tough set of matches, including a rematch with Dortmund from last season’s final, as well as Liverpool (away), AC Milan (home), Europa League champions Atalanta (away), Salzburg (home), Lille (away), Stuttgart (home), and Brest (away).

PSG finds itself in a challenging group with matches against Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid (home), Arsenal (away), PSV (home), Salzburg (away), Girona (home), and Stuttgart (away).

Other Pot 2 teams like Atletico Madrid and Arsenal have more manageable draws, while Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan face tougher opponents.

Atletico Madrid’s group includes Leipzig, PSG, Leverkusen, Benfica, Lille, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, and Sparta Prague. Bayer Leverkusen’s fixtures are against Inter Milan, Liverpool, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Salzburg, Feyenoord, Sparta Prague, and Brest.

Arsenal has a relatively easier draw with matches against PSG, Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk, Atalanta, Dinamo Zagreb, Sporting Lisbon, AS Monaco, and Girona. AC Milan’s opponents are Liverpool, Real Madrid, Club Brugge, Bayer Leverkusen, Red Star Belgrade, Dinamo Zagreb, Girona, and Slovan Bratislava.