UEFA Champions League's new draw and format explained

On the 29th of August 2024, the draw for the UEFA Champions League group stage will be made. The draw will begin at 5pm GMT and the draw will be made using automated software as the competition will have a new format this season.

The competition will have 36 teams. An increase from 32 teams. Teams will now have to play eight matches, instead of six, and will play against 8 different opponents. Four matches at home and away. These will be decided by the software who will be the home or away team in ties. Each pot, four in total. Each pot will have nine teams. A team will have to face two teams from their own pot as well as the other three pots. A team can't play opponents from the same country in the league stage but they can play a maximum of two teams from one country e.g. An English team playing two Spanish teams out of the eight matches.

What pot each team will be in will depend on their UEFA coefficients. The title holders, Real Madrid were automatically put into pot one. Manchester City will be in pot one.

When the league stage ends, the top eight teams in the league rankings will qualify for the Round Of 16. Teams that are ranked 9th to 24th will have to play a playoff to qualify for the next round, they will be seeded into a draw. Teams that finish 25th and below will be eliminated. Also, these teams cannot go into the UEFA Europa League anymore.

If you still haven't understood, then see the video below. It's quite a good short detailed video about the new format to get you ready in time for the draw and the new season.

Matchday one will happen from the 17th to the 19th of September 2024 and the final matchday, the 8th, will happen on the 29th of January 2025.

The pots have been confirmed and Manchester City are top of pot one based on the coefficients.

This format means that we will get to see more big blockbuster matches in the group stage. Based on the coefficients, the toughest teams Man City could play are Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Bayern Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Feyenoord, Sporting, Slovan Bratislava and Monaco.

The easiest teams based on coefficients we could play are Leipzig, Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan, Young Boys, Celtic, Sturm Graz and Brest.