The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League season will follow a new format, which includes a single 36-team league stage. Here are the key details about the new format and the upcoming season:
– New Format: The biggest change is to the group stage, which will become a single 36-team league phase. Each side faces eight different teams (four at home, four away). The top eight overall advance directly to the round of 16; sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the victors going through to the last 16. From then on, it is a straight knockout.
– League Phase Matches: Matchday 1: September 17-19, 2024; Matchday 2: October 1-2, 2024; Matchday 3: October 22-23, 2024; Matchday 4: November 5-6, 2024; Matchday 5: November 26-27, 2024; Matchday 6: December 10-11, 2024; Matchday 7: January 21-22, 2025; Matchday 8: January 29, 2025.
– Knockout Phase: Knockout round play-offs: February 11-12 and 18-19, 2025; Round of 16: March 4-5 and 11-12, 2025; Quarter-finals: April 8-9 and 15-16, 2025; Semi-finals: April 29-30 and May 6-7, 2025; Final: May 31, 2025.
– Teams: Twenty-five teams qualified automatically by virtue of their domestic league placing, with the holders of the Champions League and UEFA Europa League also both guaranteed a spot.
