Champions League teams, format, dates, draws and final

Di Champions League group-stage draw go see holders Real Madrid, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Celtic discover dia opponents for di opening round of di 2024/25 edition.

Wen be di draw?

Di 2024/25 Champions League group stage draw go takes place by 5pm (West African time) on Thursday, 29 August for Monaco.

Who dey di draw?

Twenty-nine teams automatically qualify for dis year Champions League group stage, out of dat number 25 do so via dia 2023/24 league position.

Shakhtar Donetsk and Benfica qualify sake of say di Champions League and Europa League winners don already book dia spots via dia domestic league performance or as a result of dia kontri collective performance for Europe last season.

Two leagues – Italy and Germany – Uefa reward dem wit extra place based on dia performance for Europe last year.

Domestic qualifiers

England: Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa

Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Atlético de Madrid

Germany: Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern, Leipzig

Italy: Inter, Milan, Juventus, Atalanta

France: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Brest

Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord

Portugal: Sporting CP

Belgium: Club Brugge

Scotland: Celtic

Austria: Sturm Graz

European Performance Spots: Bologna (ITA), Dortmund (GER)

Champions League winner rebalancing: Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)

Europa League winner rebalancing: Benfica (POR)

Play-off winners

Salzburg (AUT) beat Dynamo Kyiv 3-1agg

Sparta Praha (CZE) beat Malmö 4-0agg

Young Boys (SUI) beat Galatasaray 4-2agg

Remaining play-off second legs (all 28 August)

Qarabağ vs GNK Dinamo (0-3 agg)

S. Bratislava vs Midtjylland (1-1 agg)

Crvena zvezda vs Bodø/Glimt (1-2 agg)

Slavia Praha vs Lille (0-2 agg)

Wetin be di new Champions League format and how e go work?

Di Champions League group stage bifor now na wit 32 teams wit eight groups of four – di top two sides from dose groups go qualify for di last 16.

But Uefa don replace dis format wit one league table wia 36 clubs go participate for di new league phase – dis go give four more sides di chance to compete.

Clubs no play three teams twice again, instead dem go take on eight different sides wit four home games and four away games.

To get di fixtures, dem go rank di teams for four seeding pots and dem go draw each team to play two opponents from each of dis pots.

Dem go play one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away.

How many more games teams go play for dis new format?

Di number of matches for di new format go increase from 125 to 189.

Each team go play a minimum of eight – instead of six – and a maximum of 17.

For standard weeks, dem go play Champions League matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

For di Champions League exclusive weeks – wen dem no dey play oda European competitions, dem go play – for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Di league phase go now end for di end of January instead of during December.

How di Champions League format don change ova di years?

Europe most notable football competition begin during di 1955-56 season as only a six-team invitational tournament – dat time dem bin dey call am di European Champion Clubs’ Cup.

From 1967, di competition grow to 32 teams, dat year dem call am di European Cup and e feature four two-legged rounds prior to di one single-match final – dis model last for more dan 20 years.

Di Champions League as we know am now begin for 1992.

Dem add group stage and den di last 16 enter knockout phase.

Also e get time wey dem bin introduce two group stages, but dem revert back to the single group-stage format for di 2003-04 tournament.