Holders Real Madrid will face Liverpool away and host Borussia Dortmund in a repeat of last season’s final in the league stage of the revamped Champions League.
The draw for the new-look competition took place on Thursday, August 29, 2024 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
In this new format, all 36 clubs compete in a single league, playing eight matches against eight different opponents instead of being divided into groups. Real Madrid, who recently signed French superstar Kylian Mbappe after winning their 15th European Cup, will also play AC Milan at home and travel to Atalanta. They previously defeated Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup in Warsaw earlier this month.
Liverpool, returning to the Champions League after missing out last season, will face Milan and tournament debutants Girona. Fans will be particularly excited about hosting German champions Bayer Leverkusen, coached by former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.
Manchester City, winners of the 2023 competition, will host Inter Milan and travel to both Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, along with facing relatively less challenging opponents like Club Brugge, Sparta Prague, and Slovan Bratislava.
Other notable matchups include Bayern Munich against both PSG and Barcelona, while Arsenal will face Inter and Paris Saint-Germain. The number of teams in the Champions League has increased to 36, with teams seeded into four pots for the draw.
The first matches are set for September 17, 18, and 19, with two additional matchdays in January. The top eight teams will advance directly to the last 16, while those ranked between ninth and 24th will compete in a play-off round. The bottom 12 teams will be eliminated with no parachuting into the Europa League.
Both the Europa League and the Conference League will also feature 36 teams, with the latter having only six matchdays in the league phase.
