How to watch the Champions League draw on Golazo Network: Live stream, pots, seeds, qualified teams, start time
With qualification complete and the pots set, the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League season is upon us, but it will begin very differently than in years past. Thursday’s draw unofficially kicks off a season filled with intrigue and uncertainty, and not just because of the everlasting question of which team will pick up Europe’s top club prize in the spring. UEFA will introduce a new format this season, switching to a Swiss-system tournament, which will take center stage in this year’s draw. The Champions League is swapping the group stage for a league stage, adding four more teams and two more games to the schedule in the process. As a result, this year’s draw will not only determine each team’s path to the Champions League final in Munich, but also provide a first glimpse at how the new-look competition will work.
Here’s everything you need to know before tuning in.
how to see?
Introduction of the new format
The new-look Champions League will begin with a league stage that begins in familiar territory with teams placed into four pots based on UEFA club coefficients. (The only exception is defending champions Real Madrid, who were automatically placed in Pot 1 after winning a record 15th Champions League title in June, but would likely have taken that spot anyway.)
Each team will be pitted against eight different opponents, two from each pot, and will play four of those games at home and four away. This is the first time teams in the Champions League will face teams from their own pot, a change aimed at increasing competitiveness and entertainment value in the early stages of the competition. Teams will be ranked in the league table during the league stage, with the top 24 teams progressing to the knockout stages.
The knockout stages of the Champions League will also be different this season. The top eight teams after the league stage will advance directly to the round of 16, while teams ranked ninth to 24th will face each other in knockout round playoffs to play in the round of 16. The tournament plays out in a familiar format from there as teams compete to play in the final on May 31 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
League Stage Pots
- Pot 1: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona
- Pot 2: Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan
- Pot 3: Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven, Red Bull Salzburg, Young Boys, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, Lille, Crvena Zvezda
- Pot 4: Monaco, Sparta Prague, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Brest, Slovan Bratislava
League stage match days
- Game 1: 17-19 September
- Game 2: 1-2 October
- Game 3: 22-23 October
- Game 4: 5-6 November
- Game 5: 26-27 November
- Game 6: 10-11 December
- Game 7: 21-22 January (2025)
- Game 8: 29 January (2025)
