36 Teams Face Off in 2024/25 UCL Season’s Fresh Format

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League (UCL) season kicked off with the official draw on Thursday evening, setting the stage for Europe’s elite football clubs to clash.

Following the exciting revelations from the draw, anticipation builds towards the final showdown set for May 31, 2025, at the iconic Fußball Arena München in Munich.

The event took place in Monaco on August 29. 

This season, the tournament will witness a historic change as 36 teams compete in a revamped league format. Unlike the previous 32 teams arranged in eight groups, the new structure features all teams in a single league divided into four pots.

Each team will play eight matches—four at home and four away—without facing the same opponent twice. The top two teams from each pot will directly qualify for the knockout stages.

After the league phase, the top eight teams will proceed directly to the round of 16. The bottom eight will be eliminated, and the teams ranked 9th to 24th will enter a playoff round to vie for the remaining eight spots in the knockout rounds.

Football legends such as Gianluigi Buffon and Zlatan Ibrahimović graced the event, marking the beginning of this new chapter for the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo, Buffon, and UEFA Deputy General Secretary Giorgio Marchetti were pivotal in conducting the draw.

More details on match schedules will be announced this coming Saturday. Meanwhile, related headlines include the Champions League final’s return to Munich after 12 years and ongoing developments such as PSG’s potential ban over issues with Kylian Mbappé’s unpaid wages.

Here’s a detailed visual breakdown of the full 2024/25 UCL draw: