UEFA held the first ever draw for the 2024/25 Champions League league phase in Monaco on the afternoon of 29th June. Top European football clubs learned their opponents for the revamped tournament. Real Madrid, the current champions after beating Borussia Dortmund in last season’s final, will face more teams this time. The competition has grown from 32 to 36 teams.
Four English clubs – Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Aston Villa – will join the competition. They will compete against powerhouses like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, and Inter. All these teams believe they can make a deep run in the tournament.
Manchester City’s Opponents in the League Stage
After the Carabao Cup third-round draw earlier this week, Manchester City found out who they will play in the UEFA Champions League’s new 36-team league phase. Each team will compete in 8 matches during this stage.
The English champions were the first name pulled from Pot 1 in the overnight draw kicking off the updated process. Manchester City will play half their UEFA Champions League league phase games at home and half away. They will host Inter Milan, Club Brugge, Feyenoord and Sparta Prague. On the road, City will face PSG, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon and Slovan Bratislava.
The most exciting game might be Manchester City’s match against Inter Milan at the Etihad. This will mark their first encounter since Manchester City beat Inter Milan in the 2023 Champions League final in Istanbul. Rodri’s second-half goal helped Pep Guardiola’s team win the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.
Away games with PSG and Juventus also seem like thrilling matches. Both teams want to show their European skills against Pep Guardiola’s side, one of the top picks to this year’s competition. While no games are simple in the Champions League, Manchester City knows this fact very well.
Manchester City’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain, looked forward to the challenge the new Champions League format presents. After the draw, he mentioned how this time City will have to analyse 8 teams instead of just 3 like always. But he is confident about the team performing in the home games. This year’s UEFA Champions League campaign will test Pep Guardiola’s squad’s stamina. The draw yesterday sets the stage for an interesting league phase of the competition when it kicks off next month.
Champions League Pot 1 Fixtures
Check out the results below to see who each team drew for the revamped format, which aims to create more thrilling matchups earlier in the tournament.
Manchester City: Inter (Home), PSG (Away), Club Brugge (Home), Juventus (Away), Feyenoord (Home), Sporting CP (Away), Sparta Prague (Home), Slovan Bratislava (Away)
Bayern Munich: Paris Saint-Germain (Home), Barcelona (Away), Benfica (Home), Shakhtar Donetsk (Away), Dinamo Zagreb (Home), Feyenoord (Away), Slovan Bratislava (Home), Aston Villa (Away)
Paris Saint-Germain: Manchester City (Home), Bayern Munich (Away), Atletico Madrid (Home), Arsenal (Away), PSV Eindhoven (Home), Salzburg (Away), Girona (Home), Stuttgart (Away)
Liverpool: Real Madrid (Home), RB Leipzig (Away), Bayer Leverkusen (Home), Milan (Away), Lille (Home), PSV Eindhoven (Away), Bologna (Home), Girona (Away)
Inter: RB Leipzig (Home), Manchester City (Away), Arsenal (Home), Bayer Leverkusen (Away), Red Star Belgrade (Home), Young Boys (Away), Monaco (Home), Sparta Prague (Away)
Borussia Dortmund: Barcelona (Home), Real Madrid (Away), Shakhtar Donetsk (Home), Club Brugge (Away), Celtic (Home), Dinamo Zagreb (Away), Sturm Graz (Home), Bologna (Away)
RB Leipzig: Liverpool (Home) Inter (Away), Juventus (Home), Atletico Madrid (Away), Sporting CP (Home), Celtic (Away), Aston Villa (Home), Sturm Graz (Away)
Barcelona: Bayern Munich (Home), Borussia Dortmund (Away), Atalanta (Home), Benfica (Away), Young Boys (Home), Red Star Belgrade (Away), Brest (Home), Monaco (Away)
Dates and Timings for Champions League Matches
UEFA are yet to confirm the dates for each fixture until Saturday, but they have shared when each matchday will happen. Earlier, the group stage would be wrapped up by Christmas. The new league stage would likely take until late January to be over.
Teams that end up in positions 9 to 24 will play in the knockout round playoffs in February. They will compete for spots in the last 16 where the top 8 ranked clubs will be waiting.
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