Aug 29, 2024, 08:00 ET
The world’s top club competition has changed its first round and promises much more attractive duels from the early stages
The Champions League 2024–25 will leave behind the ‘traditional’ group stage to make way for a new “Swiss format”, inspired by chess, with an increase from 32 to 36 teams competing within a classification similar to that of the league, which will subsequently give way to a conventional knockout round with two legs.
For the new draw there will be four pots made up of nine teams each, placed according to coefficient UEFAand the first round will no longer be a ‘closed’ group stage, but each team will play eight games, four at home and four away, against a pair of rivals per ballot box. It is worth mentioning that UEFA maintains locks in the group stage to face two clubs from the same country at this stage and added one that prevents more than two crosses with another same league.
The Champions League draw will take place on Thursday. Getty Images
How will teams qualify for the Champions League round of 16?
The results will be reflected in a single classification; the top eight teams from the “league phase” advance directly to the round of 16, while those from 9th to 24th place must overcome a two-legged knockout round to advance.
and from 25th down they say goodbye to the competition without the possibility of accessing the Europa League.
The teams will be divided into two new subgroups, 9th to 16th and 17th to 24th to determine the matches.Once this novelty in the configuration of the first round is concluded in
Champions League the rest of the competition remains the same as it has been known normally, with reciprocal visits in a qualifying round from the round of 16 to the semi-finals, as well as a single duel for the title. Real Madrid, Manchester City and
Bayern Munich have a chance to play each other in the first round as Pot 1 rivals, to deliver the “most competitive matches for all clubs” for which UEFA created this new format, but there are also more attractive combinations within that same sector and involving other teams from sectors below. The last time the two teams met was just at the beginning of this summer and resulted in the fifteenth title of
UEFA Champions League For the Merengue team, after a difficult match in which the black and yellows made things difficult for most of the game and left a good impression on the pitch, seeing a ‘rerun’ of the last final is an attractive exercise to analyse how the teams have modified their schemes to face the current season in relation to the previous one. The record between real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in
Champions League There have been 15 duels between the teams, with an advantage of seven victories for the Spanish team, as well as five draws, three defeats and a goal balance of 26 to 19, respectively. With Hansi Flick on the bench and Robert Lewandowski as the axis of attack, the culé team has among its weapons two of the architects of that painful 2-8 with which they said goodbye to the bubble in Lisbon, Portugal, in the quarterfinals against
Bayern Munich, the ‘black beast’ lurking among their possible rivals in the first phase.With thirteen games played in Champions League ,
FC Barcelona They are historically at a great disadvantage against Bayern Munich, with just two wins and one draw against ten defeats, and only 13 goals scored against 33 conceded. The last time the Blaugranas beat the Munich team was in the semi-finals of the 2014-15 season (3-0).The Citizens and Parisians represent two of the bottomless checkbooks in European football, thanks to the emergence of petrodollars, as well as opposite poles in terms of sporting planning, since the English club has transcended beyond its borders to win a
Champions League while its French counterpart has failed on multiple occasions and limits its celebrations to local glories against much more modest teams. Manchester Cityand Paris Saint-Germain n have been found six times in
Champions League and the Manchester team has a wide dominance with four wins, one draw and one defeat, with nine goals scored against six goals conceded. With the trophy of
Champions League As a guarantee, as well as LaLiga in its showcases, the merengue team and fans in general were left waiting for the powerful ‘aspirins’ in the European Super Cup final because, after an amazing season in which they were undefeated Bundesliga champions, the student Xabi Alonso failed against Atalanta in the Europa League final and was deprived of the confrontation against Carlo Ancelotti, one of his teachers. With the 2001-02 final included as a precedent, in which real Madrid beat the
Bayer Leverkusen
Thanks to Zinedine Zidane’s unforgettable volley in the 45th minute, the records show seven duels between the two sides, with a favourable balance for Los Merengues of four wins, two draws and one defeat. Both teams were involved in the most recent Europa League final, with the unbeaten German champions being showcased on the international stage in their first final since 2002 with a 3-0 win at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Perhaps that bitter experience has served to encourage coach Xabi Alonso to counteract the ‘Goddess’ football and seek a tiny revenge after the affront. In case that Bayer Leverkusen and Atalantacross paths in
Champions League it will be the first time they do it in the highest European atmosphere, although they have done it in the Europa League on two occasions in addition to the aforementioned final. During the round of 16 corresponding to the 2021-22 season, the Italian team beat their German counterparts 3-2 at home, while in the return leg they sealed their passage to the next round with a new 0-1 victory. The English team and its Bavarian counterpart belong to the elite of European football, tied for third place in the count as the most successful teams. Champions League With six distinctions, only below the absolute monarch, real Madrid (15), and his closest pursuer,
AC Milan (7). It is worth mentioning that both clubs are also starting respective projects and a high-octane duel could be a great test to prove themselves at an international level.Despite its extensive history in Champions League , Liverpool and
Bayern Munich They have faced each other on only a few occasions in this competition, with four duels under their belt, resulting in one draw in favour of the Reds and three ties. The ‘Gunners’ carry in their memory the memory of the defeat against FC Barcelona in the only final of
Champions League which they have reached (2005-06), as well as repeated occasions in which the ball has not been kind to their cause either, however, their current form and squad look more ample than the Blaugrana to handle different competitions, so this edition of the tournament looks like a great moment to redeem something of what was lost along the way.In nine Champions League matches, Arsenal only have one double victory.
FC Barcelona with two draws and six losses under their belts, as well as eleven goals scored and 22 conceded. The Madrid team and the ‘Vecchia Signora’ star in one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the
Champions League as great animators of the competition, in addition to two finals included in its history, which surely still hurt the hearts of the fans of the Italian team. Counting the title duels, which real Madrid won at the end of the 1998 season in Amsterdam and 2016 on Cardiff soil, merengues and
Juventus They have faced each other 21 times, with a narrow margin of ten victories in favour of the Spaniards, two draws and nine defeats. Thanks to Emirati investors, the four-time Premier League champions have ties to the Catalan side, which is also part-owned by Citizens manager Pep Guardiola’s brother, so they have severely tested the rules of
UEFA regarding club timeshares. Despite the above -subject to the computer ‘allowing’ it-, UEFA announced during the summer that they may coincide in
Champions League thanks to the latest reform of the highest authority and which also allows the inclusion of the ‘brothers’ Manchester United and Nice in the Europa League. In order to compete, the clubs involved have demonstrated that they comply with basic principles that “no one is involved in any capacity of management, administration and sporting performance” in more than one club participating in tournaments.
UEFA
and that “no one has decisive control or influence.”Champions League 2024-25 first round schedule
Date 1: September 17-19, 2024
Date 2: October 1/2, 2024
Date 3: October 22/23, 2024
Date 4: November 5/6, 2024
Date 5: November 26/27, 2024
Date 6: 10/11 December 2024
Date 7: January 21/22, 2025
Date 8: January 29, 2025
Round of 16 draw: January 31, 2025
Round of 16 qualifiersl: 11/12 and 18/19 February 2025
Draw for the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals: February 21, 2025
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