Europe's biggest club tournament returns with a new look this year
The Champions League draw(Image credit: Getty Images)
The 2024/25 season is among us and Europe's biggest club competition has undergone its biggest change in a generation.
The so-called 'Swiss Model' does away with the Champions League's familiar group stage that the tournament has used since the tournament's big rebrand from the European Cup in the 1990s and that means the upcoming draw will look very different.
Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa are all preparing for the tournament ahead of the start of the Premier League season, but when will their know their opponents? FourFourTwo takes a look at when the draw will be taking place and how it will work.
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When is the Champions League league phase draw?
The draw for the league phase of the Champions League will take place at 5pm BST on Thursday, August 29 in Monaco.
That will follow the final qualification play-off round which will conclude the night, with the first matchday of the league stage taking place between September 17 to 19.
How does the new Champions League format work?
Real Madrid celebrate with the trophy after winning the 2024 UEFA Champions League final (Image credit: Alamy)
Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed we referred to the 'league phase', rather than the group stage above, as the competition has undergone a significant change this season.
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Gone are the familiar groups of four and in its place there will be one league containing all 36 teams that have made it through to this stage.
Each side will play eight matches in the league phase against eight different teams (four at home, four away), a change from playing the same opponents home and away.
Aston Villa qualified for the Champions League last season
Before the draw, teams are put in four seeded pots and each side will play two teams from each pot, one at home, one away. At the end of this league phase, the top eight teams qualify automatically for the last-16 and those finishing ninth to 24th will play in two-legged knock-out play-offs to complete the last-16 knockout schedule.
The competition then reverts back to the pre-existing knockout tournament up to the final, which is played a neutral venue, with the Allianz Arena in Munich getting the nod this season.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.
