2024–25 UEFA Champions League explained
| Tourney Name: | UEFA Champions League |
| Year: | 2024–25 |
| Size: | 260 |
| Dates: | Qualifying:
9 July – 28 August 2024
Competition proper:
17 September 2024 – 31 May 2025 |
| Num Teams: | Competition proper: 36
Total: 81 |
| Associations: | 53 |
| Prevseason: | 2023–24 |
| Nextseason: | 2025–26 |
The 2024–25 UEFA Champions League is the 70th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 33rd season since it was rebranded from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.[1] This will be the first season under a new format, where in the league phase each team plays eight games against different opponents, but all 36 teams are ranked in a joint group.[2] [3]
The final will be played on 31 May 2025 at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.[4] The winners of the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League will automatically qualify for the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League league phase, the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup, the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup, and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League in the 2025 UEFA Super Cup.
Real Madrid are the defending champions, having won their record-extending 15th title last season.
Association team allocation
A total of 81 teams from 53 of the 55 UEFA member associations are set to participate in the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions being Liechtenstein which does not organise a domestic league and Russia which is currently suspended). The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[5]
- Associations 1–5 each have four teams.
- Association 6 has three teams.
- Associations 7–15 each have two teams.
- Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein and Russia) each have one team.
- The winners of the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League and 2023–24 UEFA Europa League are each given an additional entry if they do not qualify for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league.
- The two associations who obtain the most coefficient points in the 2023–24 season will each have one European Performance Spot into the league phase. The winners of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League cannot fill the European Performance Spots.
Association ranking
For the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2023 UEFA association coefficients, which takes into account their performance in European competitions from 2018–19 to 2022–23.[6] The table reflects Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA.
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations may have additional teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
- – European Performance Spot, the additional berths for associations who finished in the top 2 of the 2023–24 association coefficients
- – Additional berth for UEFA Champions League title holders
- – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
Association ranking for 2024–25 UEFA Champions League| Rank | Association | Coeff. | Teams | Notes |
|---|
| 1 | | 109.570 | align=center rowspan=5 | 4 | |
|---|
| 2 | | 92.998 | |
|---|
| 3 | | 82.481 | |
|---|
| 4 | | 81.926 | |
|---|
| 5 | | 61.164 | |
|---|
| 6 | | 59.900 | 3 | |
|---|
| 7 | | 56.216 | align=center rowspan=9 | 2 | |
|---|
| 8 | | 42.200 | |
|---|
| 9 | | 36.400 | |
|---|
| 10 | | 34.000 | |
|---|
| 11 | | 32.375 | |
|---|
| 12 | | 32.100 | |
|---|
| 13 | | 31.675 | |
|---|
| 14 | | 29.500 | |
|---|
| 15 | | 29.050 | |
|---|
| 16 | | 29.000 | align=center rowspan=2 | 1 | |
|---|
| 17 | | 27.825 | |
|---|
| 18 | | 26.215 | 0 | |
|---|
| 19 | | 25.400 | 1 | | |
|---|
| | Rank | Association | Coeff. | Teams | Notes |
|---|
| 20 | | 25.225 | align=center rowspan=14 | 1 | |
|---|
| 21 | | 25.000 | |
|---|
| 22 | | 24.475 | |
|---|
| 23 | | 23.750 | |
|---|
| 24 | | 20.750 | |
|---|
| 25 | | 20.625 | |
|---|
| 26 | | 20.500 | |
|---|
| 27 | | 20.000 | |
|---|
| 28 | | 19.750 | |
|---|
| 29 | | 16.625 | |
|---|
| 30 | | 12.625 | |
|---|
| 31 | | 12.500 | |
|---|
| 32 | | 12.250 | |
|---|
| 33 | | 11.041 | |
|---|
| 34 | | 11.000 | 0 | |
|---|
| 35 | | 10.625 | align=center rowspan=4 | 1 | |
|---|
| 36 | | 10.375 | |
|---|
| 37 | | 10.200 | |
|---|
| 38 | | 10.000 | | |
|---|
| | Rank | Association | Coeff. | Teams | Notes |
|---|
| 39 | | 9.875 | align=center rowspan=17 | 1 | |
|---|
| 40 | | 9.875 | |
|---|
| 41 | | 9.750 | |
|---|
| 42 | | 9.000 | |
|---|
| 43 | | 8.750 | |
|---|
| 44 | | 8.583 | |
|---|
| 45 | | 8.250 | |
|---|
| 46 | | 8.000 | |
|---|
| 47 | | 7.582 | |
|---|
| 48 | | 7.250 | |
|---|
| 49 | | 6.250 | |
|---|
| 50 | | 6.166 | |
|---|
| 51 | | 5.791 | |
|---|
| 52 | | 5.500 | |
|---|
| 53 | | 5.165 | |
|---|
| 54 | | 4.750 | |
|---|
| 55 | | 1.999 | | |
|---|
| |
Distribution
| Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from the previous round |
|---|
First qualifying round
(28 teams) | - 28 champions from associations 26–28 and 30–55 (except Liechtenstein)
| |
|---|
Second qualifying round
(28 teams) | Champions path
(24 teams) | - 8 champions from associations 15–18 (except Russia) and 20–24
- 2 champions from associations 25 and 29 as the teams with highest club coefficients, originally from the first qualifying round
| - 14 winners from the first qualifying round
|
|---|
League path
(4 teams) | - 4 runners-up from associations 11–14
| |
|---|
Third qualifying round
(20 teams) | Champions path
(12 teams) | | - 12 winners from the second qualifying round (champions path)
|
|---|
League path
(8 teams) | - 2 runners-up from associations 8–9
- 1 third-placed team from association 6
- 1 fourth-placed team from association 5
- 2 runners-up from associations 10 and 15 as the teams with highest club coefficients, originally from the second qualifying round league path
| - 2 winners from the second qualifying round (league path)
|
|---|
Play-off round
(14 teams) | Champions path
(10 teams) | - 3 champions from associations 11–13
- 1 champion from association 19 as the team with highest club coefficient, originally from the second qualifying round champions path
| - 6 winners from the third qualifying round (champions path)
|
|---|
League path
(4 teams) | | - 4 winners from the third qualifying round (league path)
|
|---|
League phase
(36 teams) | - 10 champions from associations 1–10
- 6 runners-up from associations 1–6
- 5 third-placed teams from associations 1–5
- 4 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–4
- 1 champion from association 14 as the team with the highest club coefficient, originally from the play-off round of the champions path
- 1 runner-up from association 7 as the team with the highest club coefficient, originally from the third qualifying round of the league path
- 2 associations (Italy and Germany) with the highest coefficients from the previous season each received an extra berth
| - 5 winners from the play-off round (champions path)
- 2 winners from the play-off round (league path)
|
|---|
Preliminary knockout round
(16 teams) | | - 16 teams ranked 9-24 from the League phase
|
|---|
Knockout phase
(16 teams) | | - 8 teams ranked 1-8 from the League phase
- 8 winners from the Preliminary knockout round
| |
|---|
The information here reflects the ongoing suspension of Russia in European football, and so the following changes to the default access list have been made:
- The champions of associations 23 (Sweden) and 24 (Poland) will enter the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round (champions path).
As the Champions League title holders (Real Madrid) qualified via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list have been made:
- Shakhtar Donetsk as the club with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the champions path of the qualifying phase or play-off round, will enter the league phase instead of the champions path play-off round.
- Dinamo Zagreb, as the club with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the champions path second qualifying round, will enter the champions path play-off round.
- Ferencváros and Qarabağ, as the two clubs with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the champions path first qualifying round, will enter the champions path second qualifying round.
As the Europa League title holders (Atalanta) qualified via their domestic league's standard berth allocation, the following changes to the default access list have been made:
- Benfica, as the club with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered at any stage of the qualifying phase or play-off round, will enter the league phase instead of the league path third qualifying round.
- Slavia Prague and Red Bull Salzburg, as the two clubs with the highest club coefficient that would otherwise have entered the league path second qualifying round, will enter the third qualifying round.
Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
- TH: Champions League title holders
- EL: Europa League title holders
- 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.: League positions of the previous season
- EPS: The European Performance Spots given to clubs from the 2 associations with the highest coefficient points in 2023–24
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round are divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP).
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[7] Compared to past seasons, one "exclusive week" will be introduced in which Thursday will also be a matchday.[2] [8] [9] All matches in other weeks will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the final.
Schedule for 2024–25 UEFA Champions League| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|
| Qualifying | First qualifying round | 18 June 2024 | 9–10 July 2024 | 16–17 July 2024 |
| Second qualifying round | 19 June 2024 | 23–24 July 2024 | 30–31 July 2024 |
| Third qualifying round | 22 July 2024 | 6–7 August 2024 | 13 August 2024 |
| Play-offs | Play-off round | 5 August 2024 | 20–21 August 2024 | 27–28 August 2024 |
| League phase | Matchday 1 | 29 August 2024 | 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 phase | Knockout round play-offs | 31 January 2025 | 11–12 February 2025 | 18–19 February 2025 |
| Round of 16 | 21 February 2025 | 4–5 March 2025 | 11–12 March 2025 |
| Quarter-finals | 8–9 April 2025 | 15–16 April 2025 |
| Semi-finals | 29–30 April 2025 | 6–7 May 2025 |
| Final | 31 May 2025 at Allianz Arena, Munich | |
Qualifying rounds
Third qualifying round
League phase
The league phase draw for the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League will be held at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, on 29 August 2024.[10] [11]
Sixteen clubs will be national champions. All teams will make their debut appearances in the inaugural league phase, while Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest and Girona will make their debut appearances since the introduction of the group stage. Brest and Girona will also make their debut appearances in European football.[12] [13] Qualified clubs
| width=20% | Pot 1 | width=20% | Pot 2 | width=20% | Pot 3 | width=20% | Pot 3 or 4 | width=20% | Pot 4 |
|---|
| valign=top | | valign=top | | valign=top | | valign=top | - Winner of CH match 3
- Winner of CH match 4
- Winner of LP match 2
| valign=top | | |
Knockout phase
The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the knockout phase and will receive a bye to the round of 16, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged first round play-off to secure their path to the round of 16, with teams ranked 9th–16th being seeded and hosting the second leg at home while teams ranked 17th to 24th hosting the first leg. The winners will join the top eight in the round of 16. Meanwhile, teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from all competitions, with no access to the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League.
Final
See main article: 2025 UEFA Champions League final.
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: UEFA approves final format and access list for its club competitions as of the 2024/25 season . UEFA.com . 10 May 2022 . 8 March 2023.
- Web site: UEFA.com . 13 March 2024 . New format for Champions League post-2024: Everything you need to know UEFA Champions League . 15 March 2024 . UEFA.com . en.
- Web site: The New Champions League Format Explained . 26 March 2024 . www.soccersat.com.
- News: Venues appointed for club competition finals . UEFA.com . Union of European Football Associations . 16 July 2021 . 16 July 2021.
- Web site: Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2024/25 Season. UEFA. Nyon. 2024 . 1 April 2024.
- Web site: Association coefficients 2022/23 . UEFA.com . July 2018 . Union of European Football Associations . 1 June 2023.
- UEFA club competitions cycle 2024–27 ("Post 2024") . 36/2023 . UEFA Circular Letter . . 7 July 2023 . 10 July 2023.
- News: Sheldon . Dan . How the new Champions League format works . 11 December 2023 . The Athletic . en.
- Web site: 10 July 2023 . More national derby games possible when revamped Champions League starts next year . 11 December 2023 . AP News . en.
- Web site: 2024/25 UEFA Champions League: Matches, final, key dates. UEFA. 1 January 2024. 17 April 2024. 14 April 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240414220515/https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/0287-1964b9b0f4ce-e069b2345f39-1000--2024-25-uefa-champions-league-matches-final-key-dates/. live.
- Web site: UEFA Club Competitions 2024/25 onwards: new league phase draw procedures explained. UEFA. 31 July 2024. 31 July 2024.
- Web site: Atalanta close in on Champions League, Bologna and Juve qualify . 12 May 2024 . 12 May 2024 . SuperSport . en-GB.
- Web site: Girona: Catalan side beat Barcelona to secure Champions League football for first time . 4 May 2024 . 10 May 2024 . BBC Sport . en-GB.
