It’s the Uefa Champions League, but not as you know it. The competition has returned for the 2024/25 season, but in a completely new format.
The tournament has expanded, promising more matches between the biggest teams in Europe battling for the biggest prize in club football. Some say the concept is bloated and adds too many matches to an already packed calendar, but time will tell if it is a success.
With the old setup gone, some fans are confused about how the new tournament will actually work. It’s a little bit more complicated than the previous one, but only slightly.
We’ve explained how it will work for the Premier League teams and the rest of the clubs involved in this year’s edition.
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What is the new Champions League format for 2024/25?
From this season onwards, the Champions League has expanded from 32 teams to 36 in what has been dubbed the ‘Swiss model’.
In replacement of the previous four-team eight-group format, teams will now play eight fixtures (four home and four away) in the league phase and all results will be placed on a singular league table.
The top eight teams in the final table will advance to the last-16. Teams who finish between ninth and 24th will enter a play-off round, where the victors will progress to the last-16. There is no consolation prize of dropping into the Europa League for sides eliminated, with teams who finish 25th and below out of Europe entirely.
Read – Uefa Champions League fixtures in full for 2024/25 campaign
Champions League fixtures for the Premier League clubs
Arsenal
PSG (H), Inter (A), Shakhtar (H), Atalanta (A), Dinamo Zagreb (H), Sporting (A), Monaco (H), Girona (A).
Aston Villa
Bayern Munich (H), Leipzig (A), Juventus (H), Club Brugge (A), Celtic (H), Young Boys (A), Bologna (H), AS Monaco (A).
Liverpool
Real Madrid (H), Leipzig (A), Leverkusen (H), AC Milan (A), Lille (H), PSV Eindhoven (A), Bologna (H), Girona (A).
Man City
Inter (H), PSG (A), Club Brugge (H), Juventus (A), Feyenoord (H), Sporting CP (A), Sparta Prague (H), Slovan Bratislava (A).
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