2024–25 UEFA Champions League league phase
The 2024–25 UEFA Champions League league phase will begin on 17 September 2024 and end on 29 January 2025. A total of 36 teams will compete in the league phase to decide the 24 places in the knockout phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League.
Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest, Girona and Slovan Bratislava will make their debut appearances since the introduction of the group stage. Brest and Girona will also make their debut appearances in European football. A total of 16 national associations will be represented in the league phase.
This will be the first season with the single-league format, which replaces the group format used until the previous season.[1] With the format change, the number of matches prior to the knockout phase will increase from 96 to 144.
Format
editEach team will play eight matches, four at home and four away, against eight different opponents, with all 36 teams ranked in a single league table. Teams will be separated into four pots based on their 2024 UEFA club coefficients, and each team will play two teams from each of the four pots – one at home and one away. The top eight ranked teams will receive a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th are eliminated from all competitions, with no access to the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League.
Tiebreakers
editTeams will be ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points upon completion of the league phase, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:[2]
- Goal difference;
- Goals scored;
- Away goals scored;
- Wins;
- Away wins;
- Higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents;
- Superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents;
- Higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents;
- Lower disciplinary points total (direct red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
- UEFA club coefficient.
Teams and seeding
editThe 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each, with the Champions League title holders automatically placed as the top seed of pot 1.[3] All remaining teams were allocated to pots based on their 2024 UEFA club coefficients.[4] The participants include:
- 29 teams which entered at this stage
- 7 winners of the play-off round (5 from the Champions Path, 2 from the League Path)
| Key to colours |
|---|
| Teams ranked 1 to 8 advance to the round of 16 as a seeded team |
| Teams ranked 9 to 16 advance to the knockout phase play-offs as a seeded team |
| Teams ranked 17 to 24 advance to the knockout phase play-offs as an unseeded team |
|
|
|
|
Notes
- TH Champions League title holders (automatic top seed of pot 1)
- EL Europa League title holders
- CP Winners of the play-off round (Champions Path)
- LP Winners of play-off round (League Path)
Draw
editThe draw for the league phase pairings was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 29 August 2024, 18:00 CEST.[5][6][7] All 36 teams were manually drawn using physical balls. For every team manually drawn, automated software digitally drew their opponents at random, determining which of their matches were at home and which ones away. Each team will face two opponents from each of the four pots, one of which they will face at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association. The draw started with Pot 1, assigning opponents to all teams, one after the other, and continued with the other pots in descending order until all teams were assigned their opponents.[8][9][10]
The switch to a primarily computer-based draw was made due to issues with the complexity and duration required by a manual draw.[11] The draw software, developed by AE Live, guaranteed total randomness within the framework of the draw conditions and prevented any deadlock situations. The software was reviewed by external auditor Ernst & Young, which also provided review and control of the manual and digital draw operations on-site.[8]
League phase table
edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Manchester City
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to round of 16 (seeded) |
| 2 |  Bayern Munich
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 |  Real Madrid
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 |  Paris Saint-Germain
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Liverpool
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 |  Inter Milan
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Borussia Dortmund
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | RB Leipzig
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Barcelona
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout phase play-offs (seeded) |
| 10 | Bayer Leverkusen
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Atlético Madrid
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Atalanta
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Juventus
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 |  Benfica
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Arsenal
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 |  Club Brugge
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 |  Shakhtar Donetsk
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout phase play-offs (unseeded) |
| 18 | Milan
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 19 |  Feyenoord
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Sporting CP
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | PSV Eindhoven
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 |  Dinamo Zagreb
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 |  Red Bull Salzburg
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | Lille
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 |  Red Star Belgrade
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 |  Young Boys
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 |  Celtic
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 28 |  Slovan Bratislava
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | Monaco
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 30 |  Sparta Prague
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | Aston Villa
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 32 | Bologna
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Girona
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34 | VfB Stuttgart
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 35 | Sturm Graz
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Brest
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rules for classification: League phase tiebreakers
Matches
editThe fixture list will be announced on 31 August 2024, two days after the draw. This is to ensure no calendar clashes with teams in Europa League and Conference League playing in the same cities.[8]
In principle, each team will not play more than two home matches or two away matches in a row, and will play one home match and one away match across both the first and last two matchdays. The matches will be played on 17–19 September (exclusive week),[note 1] 1–2 October, 22–23 October, 5–6 November, 26–27 November, 10–11 December 2024, 21–22 January and 29 January 2025. All matches will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except for the competition's exclusive week, which also includes Thursday fixtures. The scheduled kick-off times will be 18:45 (two matches on each day) and 21:00 (remaining matches) CET/CEST. The only exception is the final matchday, where all fixtures will be played simultaneously at 21:00.[14][15]
Times are CET or CEST,[note 2] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Notes
edit- ^ As part of the scheduling for the 2024–25 UEFA men's club season, each competition will have an "exclusive week" in the calendar, with no other competitions scheduled during this week. For the Champions League, this will take place on matchday 1 (17–19 September 2024).[13]
- ^ CEST (UTC+2) for dates up to 26 October 2024 (matchdays 1–3), and CET (UTC+1) for dates thereafter (matchdays 4–8).
References
edit- ^ "UEFA approves final format and access list for its club competitions as of the 2024/25 season". UEFA.com. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "Article 18: Equality of points – league phase". UEFA.com. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "Champions League: League phase draw pots confirmed". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "UEFA Champions League: League phase draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
- ^ "UEFA Champions League: League phase draw". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "UEFA: Men's Club Competition Season Kick-Off". Grimaldi Forum. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ^ a b c "UEFA Club Competitions 2024/25 onwards: new league phase draw procedures explained". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
- ^ "Champions League, Europa League and Conference League league phase draws: All you need to know about the European Club Football Season Kick-off in Monaco". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
- ^ "UEFA Champions League – Draw procedure: League phase" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "New Champions League format: Getting to grips with the maths". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 26 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
- ^ "Champions League league phase draw: All 36 teams learn their opponents". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "How does the new-format UEFA Champions League work?". Bundesliga. Deutsche Fußball Liga. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ^ "New format for Champions League post-2024: Everything you need to know". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ^ "Article 25 Stadium announcements and kick-off times". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.