Champions League draw 2024/25 live online: new league format, fixtures and matches
Champions League draw 24/25 live online
That's it for awards tonight and now we look towards the draw procedure.
CR7: 'Champions League goals are like ketchup"
Cristiano talks about how much the Champions League meant to him as a player.
The Portuguese talks about the special memories that the game has offered and doesn't rule out coming back to play in the UCL again (no-one really buys that though).
He adds that his first ever goal in the competition is his best moment.
The greatest goalscorer ever in the history of the Champions League.
In his time with Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, the Madeira born striker scored 140 Champions League goals in 183 appearances.
Mister Cristiano 'CR7' Ronaldo!
Next up ... award time for CR7
Buffon tells us about his new role with the Italian FA and his involvement with the Italy national team and Buffon will also be on hand to help with the imminent draw.
Ceferin tells us why he decided to present the award to the Italian and adds that apart from his footballing accolades, Buffon is also a very good person and adds that he is the best keeper ever !
First up it's going to be award time with Aleksander Ceferin (UEFA President) on hand to present Gianluigi Buffon with the award.
World Cup winner, 10 x Serie A titles and a legend of the game.
Catherine Jenkins bellowing out the new version of the anthem.
Pedro Pinto and Reshmin Chowdhury are yours hosts for tonight.
Quick run through the new league phase through with 36 teams.
Sit tight folks and we'll keep you company all the way for the next two hours or so.
Am looking forward to this one ... just to see how the new Champions League hybrid factor works.
Will we saw a fe match-ups that fuel the conspiracy theorists? Undoubtedly
Draw time
We head live to the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco for the first ever Swiss Model league format draw.
First up a new UCL anthem remix !
When is the draw for the Europa & Conference Leagues?
The Europa League and Conference League draws, both following the same 36-team format, happen there the following day at 1pm local time (0700 am ET).
CR7 has arrived
The Al Nassr striker poses ahead of the Champions League draw in Monaco.
Cristiano is set to receive an award tonight for the all time top scorer in the Champions League.
15 minutes ahead of draw time and representatives from the 36 club's are making their way to their seats at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
Try the simulator
Ahead of the draw, have a go with the simulator and see what your personal draw throws up.
It will also give you an idea of some of the potential big games that this new format could deliver.
Building up to Munich in May
31 May, 2025 is the date earmarked for the final of the new Champions League.
Will Real Madrid be involved as Los Blancos look for a 16th triumph?
Will it be an outsider?
Will PSG finally achieve what their big spending has been building up to ?
Next May, Munich's Allianz Arena will stage the 24-25 final game.
Kick-off times and dates
Despite the draw revealing what teams will face one another this season in the new league format, fans should restrain from booking flights and hotel until Saturday (31 August) when UEFA will confirm the definitive times for the games once the UEFA Europa and Conference League draws have been completed. Both take place tomorrow (Friday).
The 36 participants
The club crests of all 36 participants and great to see new faces... Bologna, Girona, Brest and Slovan Bratislava sitting at the top table.
What will replace the 'Group of Death'?
So, no more group's of death given the shift in the format... however, teams can still face some formidable opponents and even with the likes of Aston Villa. Stuttgart and Bologna in Pot 4, there will be very few push-over games in theory.
Away trips to Belgrade, Bratislava and Prague will also be tricky tests for the tops in higher ranked pots.
2024-24 surprise package ....
Keep an eye out on Lisbon giants Sporting CP.
Comfortable winners of the Portuguese top flight last season and a side boasting one of European football's most in-form strikers in the shape of Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres. They also have a hot shot manager in the shape of Ruben Amorim who was heavily linked with Liverpool in May-June earlier this year.
Do not be deceived by their Pot 3 status !
Will the new format be a success?
Time will tell if the attempt to revive the competition works but it's true that the previous four team groups were a little jaded and more often than not, just a little predictable with the top two sees invariable sailing through to the R16, sometimes with one or even two games to spare.
My only concern with the new league format could come when we get to matchday 7 & 8 and we are faced with the possibility that the bigger teams have already secured a top eight finish and can take their foot off the gas.
Time will tell but it does feel that the competition did need a makeover and credit to all involved for taking the bold step.
Other key dates for the 24/25 season Champions League
Knockout round play-offs: 11/12 & 18/19 February 2025
Round of 16: 4/5 & 11/12 March 2025
Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April 2025
Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May 2025
Final: 31 May 2025
How long will the draw take tonight?
That is a fine question and, at this juncture we don't really have a clear idea.
17 minutes (per pot) is the estimated time it took when UEFA carried out the simulation draw and along with speeches, video reels and the awards that will be handed out, I'd estimate the whole process to go on for no longer than 90 minutes.
UEFA have smartened up their act over the years and now keep their draw procedures relatively streamlined.
Sparta Prague celebrate Champions League return
The Mr. Bean inspired tweet from Sparta Prague celebrating their return to the league stage of the UCL is a touch of genius from the Czechia based side.
Swedish side Malmo were beaten 4-0 on aggregate by the Prague outfit.
What is the 'hybrid draw'?
Today's draw will be of a hybrid nature with the initial step seeing a ball (representing one of each nine teams in four seeded pots) being drawn from a from a bowl.
Given that are now 36 teams who each need eight opponents drawn it would have been impractical to prepare balls for every possible eligible opponent, so each team’s opponents will now be randomly selected by a super-computer with the software ensuring that the computer calculates all future options simultaneously so that we never find ourselves at a deadlock.
Chiesa to star for the Reds
Federico Chiesa joins Liverpool where he becomes the second signing of the Arne Slot era following the agreement to sign Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia ahead of 2025-26 earlier this week.
The Italian will be one of the key players for the Reds in their forthcoming Champions League campaign.
UCL newcomers: Bologna, Slovan, Brest and Girona
There are four clubs embarking on their first ever journeys in this stage of the Champions League with fans of Bologna, Slovan Bratislava, Brest and Girona all looking forward to high profile games in this stage of the competition ever.
Slovan had to navigate the playoffs to progress with the Serie A, Ligue 1 and LaLiga side qualifying by virtue of their leagie positions in the 2023-24 season.
So how does this Swiss Model work?
Instead of traditional format that saw all 32 teams being drawn into eight groups of four and playing six group games, the 36 qualified teams will instead take part in eight matches and go into one giant table, with goal difference the first tie-breaker for teams finishing level on points.
Each team will be drawn to face two clubs from each pot, including their own, which should ensure their eight group-stage matches are of similar difficulty on the whole. As has been the case up until now, two teams from the same country cannot be drawn against other.
The top eight teams in the league go through to the R16 knockout stages, with the 16 teams who finish between ninth and 24th taking part in a two-legged playoff to join them.
The playoff winners will be unseeded in the next round, with the competition reverting back to its ‘traditional’ format thereafter.
Dates for the eight UCL 2024/25 matchdays
With more teams involved in the new format, that will mean more games so added matchdays as we move from the previous six in the group stage to eight in the new league format as games now take place in the new year too.
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
The 36 partcipants
These are the 36 sides who will be involved in the first Swiss Model league format for European football's top competition.
Seven teams progressed this week (Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava, Sparta Prague, Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade, Lille and Salzburg) to join the other 29 sides that had already confirmed their place in the draw.
The teams are seeded in four pots according to their current UEFA coefficient.
Counting down to the 2024-35 draw
This is what it's all about.
The trophy every team captain dreams of lifting next May in Munich.
We'll have awards for the best Champions League player of the 2023-24 season along with the UEFA President's award to Gigi Buffon and Al Nassr striker Cristiano Ronaldo is also expected to attend to receive the All Time Top Scorer Award in the UCL.
The action in Monaco gets underway at 1200 pm (ET) and between the draw itself and the various awards that are expected to be handed out during the ceremony, we're expecting the entire event to take approximately two hours.
Hello and welcome to the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League draw....
The same competition but with a distinctive twist to the format and indeed the draw.
So settle in, sit back as we look forward to the first draw procedure ahead of the new 'Swiss Model' 36 team league format.