Champions League draw 2024-25: How it will work and Milan’s possible opponents

AC Milan will find out their opponents for the first phase of the UEFA Champions League on Thursday as the draw will take place, but there is a new format to get used to.

The main alteration is the shift away from the current format’s group stage system, whereby in the previous Champions League group stage there were 32 participants divided into eight groups of four.

Under that structure the draw was quite easy: the teams were divided into pots based on league finish and co-efficient, then drawn one by one into the various groups.

The new format

From the 2024-25 season, 36 clubs will participate in the Champions League league phase (former group stage), giving four more sides entry into a single league competition with one big table.

The teams will play eight matches in the new league phase and therefore will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – as per the old group stage.

Instead they will play fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away. To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots.

Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away. For more information, read our feature which broke things down in more detail.

The top eight teams from the ‘big league’ will advance to the last 16, with the 16 teams finishing between ninth and 24th entering the play-off round over two legs, with a victory securing passage to the last 16. Teams who finish 25th or below will be eliminated and will not drop down to the Europa League.

All 36 teams will be manually drawn using physical balls, as in the previous format. For every team manually drawn, a designated automated software will randomly draw eight opponents across the four pots.

These opponents will be revealed on screen in the draw hall and on television, and the software will also decide which matches will be at home and which ones away.

Date, time, venue and how to watch

The draw will take place on Thursday 29 August from 18:00 CEST in Nyon, Switzerland. It will be streamed live online via the Champions League website and UEFA YouTube channel.

Below are the dates of the various rounds in the league phase:

➤ Matchday 1: 17–19 September 2024
➤ Matchday 2: 1/2 October 2024
➤ Matchday 3: 22/23 October 2024
➤ Matchday 4: 5/6 November 2024
➤ Matchday 5: 26/27 November 2024
➤ Matchday 6: 10/11 December 2024
➤ Matchday 7: 21/22 January 2025
➤ Matchday 8: 29 January 2025

➤ Knockout round play-offs draw: 31 January 2025
➤ Knockout round play-offs: 11/12 & 18/19 February 2025
➤ Round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draws: 21 February 2025

Possible opponents

The second leg of the final qualifying ties are taking place on Wednesday night, but below are the teams that have already been confirmed of a place and a pot:

Pot One:

Real Madrid (ESP)
Manchester City (ENG)
Bayern Munich (GER)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Liverpool (ENG)
Inter (ITA)
Borussia Dortmund (GER)
RB Leipzig (GER)
Barcelona (ESP)

Pot Two:

Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Atletico Madrid (ESP)
Atalanta (ITA)
Juventus (ITA)
Benfica (POR)
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Arsenal (ENG)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Milan (ITA)

Pot Three:

Feyenoord (NED)
Sporting (POR)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Celtic (SCO)
Young Boys (SUI)
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) or Qarabag (AZE)
Slavia Prague (CZE) or Lille (FRA)

Pot Three or Four (depending on results of play-off ties):

Midtjylland (DEN) or Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
Bodo/Glimt (NOR) or Red Star Belgrade (SRB)

Pot Four:

Monaco (FRA)
Sparta Prague (CZE)
Aston Villa (ENG)
Sturm Graz (AUT)
Bologna (ITA)
Brest (FRA)
Girona (ESP)
VfB Stuttgart (GER)