The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League marks the 70th season of Europe’s Premier club football tournament organized by UEFA, and the 33rd since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs’ Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The competition will undergo significant changes next season as it has been altered and expanded to fit the preferred Swiss model.

The new season will introduce a new format where each team plays eight matches against various opponents, with all 36 teams ranked within a single group or League format. Twenty-five teams across Europe will qualify automatically via domestic League placing at the end of the 2023/24 season. The holders of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League will also get automatic entries as done previously. Rebalancing will be required should either of the two already gain entry via their domestic league placing. Two other slots will be filled in by the European Performance Spots won by Italy (Serie A) and Germany (Bundesliga). The last seven slots will be determined via qualifying rounds.

Below is an updated list of teams that are through to the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League season:

English Premier League (4):

Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Aston Villa are through to the 2024/25 Champions League campaign via domestic League placing.

Spanish La Liga (4):

UCL finalist and La Liga winners Real Madrid are through to the 2024/25 UCL season alongside rivals Girona, Barcelona, and Atletico de Madrid.

German Bundesliga (4):

Invincible Bundesliga winners Bayern Leverkusen, Stuttgart,  Bayern Munich, and RB Leipzig qualify by domestic League placing. Germany is awarded an extra spot for having the second-best European coefficient this season via the European Performance Spot pathway.

Italian Serie A (4):

Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, and Bologna are through next season’s Champions League. Like Germany, an extra spot is awarded to the Serie A for having the best European coefficient this season.

French League 1 (3):

French Champions Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, and Brest are automatically through to next season’s Champions League via their domestic League Placing. Fourth place Lille would compete for a spot at the Champions League qualifiers.

Dutch Eredivisie (2):

PSV Eindhoven won the 2024 Eredivisie and has gained automatic entrance into next season’s Champions League. Feyenoord finished second ahead of FC Twente and also gained automatic entry. The latter will be featured at the Champions League qualifiers.

Portuguese Primeira Liga (1):

Sporting CP won the Portuguese domestic league with an incredible 90 points from 34 games. They are through to next season’s Champions League campaign.

Scottish Premiership (1):

Celtic were crowned Scottish champions for the 12th time in 13 seasons and by doing so, gained the Scottish Champions League automatic entry spot.

Belgian Pro League (1):

Club Brugge

Austria Football Bundesliga (1):

SK Sturm Graz

European Performance Spots (2):

Italy and Germany emerged as the two associations with the highest coefficient in the 2023/24 UEFA competitions. This awards their leagues a fifth-place entry into the 2024/25 Champions League. Atalanta (ITA) and Borussia Dortmund (GER) are both beneficiaries of this spot, and both teams are opportuned to get the UEL and UCL holders automatic entry after reaching the finals of the tournaments respectively.

Champions League winner rebalancing (1):

A key principle of the new European club competition format starting post-2024 is the significant influence of the club coefficient, which is determined by the club’s performance in European competitions over the most recent five-year period. If the UEFA Champions League winners have secured a spot in the league phase through their domestic league position, then the club with the highest individual coefficient among all domestic champions involved in qualifying (from associations ranked 11 to 55) will directly enter the league phase, bypassing the qualifying rounds they initially were set to compete in.

With finalists Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund already through to the 2024/25 Champions League, rebalancing will be required to fill the spot. Ukrainian Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk have the highest coefficient and are now guaranteed to take the UEFA Champions League winners’ league phase berth.

Europa League winner rebalancing (1):

With finalist Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta already through to next season’s Champions League, Rebalancing will be required to fill this spot. Under the 2024–27 club competition format, if the Europa League winners qualify directly for the Champions League league phase through their domestic league, the team with the highest individual coefficient among all the teams in the Champions League qualifying rounds (both the champions path and league path) will automatically advance through the league phase. Benfica (POR) initially destined to go into the Champions League qualifying will instead take the additional league phase berth vacated by the Europa League winners since they have the highest individual coefficient amongst teams in this round.

There will be a draw at the start of the 2024/25 UCL season to create the league-phase fixtures which comprises eight games for each club, four home and away matches. This will be achieved with teams being shared among four pots consisting of nine teams. Pot 1 will feature the UCL holders and eight teams with the highest coefficients, meaning the Champions of the Europa League and top domestic leagues are no longer prioritized. Each member of the Plot is designed to face two other teams in that same Pot in home and away games.

There will be two limited draws for the knockout rounds: one at the end of the league phase in January, and another at the end of February for the Round of 16. Teams that finish higher in the group stage will have a more favorable path, facing lower-ranked teams. This ensures that the top two teams from the group stage don’t encounter each other in the knockout rounds until the final. The eight best teams will advance directly to the Round of 16 and compete against the winners from the sixteen-team knockout rounds played by teams that finished in positions ninth to twenty-fourth at the League standings in January. 

The final will be played on May 31, 2025, at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. The champions will participate in the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup, automatically qualify for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League, and compete against the winners of the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League in the 2025 UEFA Super Cup.

The new format will be more demanding, with concerns about additional matches for teams, traveling demands, and the risk of a lowered standard in the competition. However, on the bright side, more teams will be welcomed to compete on Europe’s biggest stage, the fans will witness new and interesting rivalries and more income streams will be generated for participating teams and players. Notably, the new system does not include a country protection policy, but UEFA plans to avoid matches between clubs from countries with political conflicts.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE!

When securing your coveted Champions League tickets explore tickets from a secondary market. Tickets from traditional sites are usually scarce due to high demand and may not consistently provide the best deals or experiences. Explore fan-friendly options that grant you access to the games and immerse you in the electrifying atmosphere of the Champions League.

The 2023/24 UCL Finals between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund is around the corner. The epic finals on the 1st of June would be the third (2011 and 2013 editions) to be played on the grass of the rebuilt Wembley Stadium in London since the tournament’s rebranding. Real Madrid are favorites to claim a record 15th UCL glory but will face massive opposition against a desperate Black and Yellow team that fought their way to the finals and now prevent successive defeats at the Champions League finals in Wembley.

Secure your tickets, support your team, and join in on this thrilling journey through the heart of football. The Champion’s League final saga is unfolding, and it’s bound to be an epic tale for the ages.