The 2024–25 UEFA Champions League league phase began on 17 September 2024 and will end on 29 January 2025. A total of 36 teams are competing in the league phase to decide the 24 places in the knockout phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Champions League.
Aston Villa, Bologna, Brest, Girona and Slovan Bratislava made their debut appearances in the Champions League since the introduction of the group stage. Brest and Girona also made their debut appearances in European football. A total of 16 national associations are represented in the league phase.
This is the first season with the single-league format, which replaces the group format used until the previous season.[1] With the format change, the number of matches prior to the knockout phase will increase from 96 to 144. Juventus' Kenan Yıldız was the first-ever goalscorer of the competition's league phase.[2]
Format
Each team will play eight matches, four at home and four away, against eight different opponents, with all 36 teams ranked in a single league table. Teams were separated into four pots based on their 2024 UEFA club coefficients, and each team will play two teams from each of the four pots – one at home and one away. The top eight ranked teams will receive a bye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th are eliminated from all competitions, with no access to the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League.
Tiebreakers
Teams will be ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points upon completion of the league phase, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:[3]
Goal difference;
Goals scored;
Away goals scored;
Wins;
Away wins;
Higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents;
Superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents;
Higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents;
Lower disciplinary points total (direct red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
During the league phase, criteria 1 to 5 will be used to rank teams who have an equal number of points. Should any teams be equal on points and tied on the first five criteria, they will be considered equal in position and sorted alphabetically. Criteria 6 to 10 will only be used to break ties upon completion of all matches.[4]
Teams and seeding
The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each, with the Champions League title holders automatically placed as the top seed of pot 1.[5] All remaining teams were allocated to pots based on their 2024 UEFA club coefficients.[6] The participants include:
TH Champions League title holders (automatic top seed of pot 1)
EL Europa League title holders
CP Winners of the play-off round (Champions Path)
LP Winners of play-off round (League Path)
Draw
The draw for the league phase pairings was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 29 August 2024, 18:00 CEST.[7][8][9] All 36 teams were manually drawn using physical balls. For every team manually drawn, a guest on stage presses the button for the automated software to digitally drew their opponents at random, determining which of their matches were at home and which ones away. Each team will face two opponents from each of the four pots, one of which they will face at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association. The draw started with Pot 1, assigning opponents to all teams, one after the other, and continued with the other pots in ascending order until all teams were assigned their opponents.[10][11][12]
The switch to a primarily computer-based draw was made due to issues with the complexity and duration required by a manual draw.[13] The draw software, developed by AE Live, guaranteed total randomness within the framework of the draw conditions and prevented any deadlock situations. The software was reviewed by external auditor Ernst & Young, which also provided review and control of the manual and digital draw operations on-site.[10]
Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2024. Source: UEFA Rules for classification: League phase tiebreakers (E) Eliminated; (W) Assured of at least the play-offs (seeded), but may still advance directly to the round of 16; (X) Assured of at least the play-offs (unseeded), but may still advance directly to the round of 16; (Y) Cannot advance directly to the round of 16, but may still qualify via the play-offs (seeded); (Z) Cannot advance directly to the round of 16, but may still qualify via the play-offs (unseeded)
The fixture list was announced on 31 August 2024, two days after the draw.[15][16][17] This was to ensure no calendar clashes with teams in Europa League and Conference League playing in the same cities.[10]
In principle, each team will not play more than two home matches or two away matches in a row, and will play one home match and one away match across both the first and last two matchdays. The matches will be played on 17–19 September (exclusive week),[note 1] 1–2 October, 22–23 October, 5–6 November, 26–27 November, 10–11 December 2024, 21–22 January and 29 January 2025. All matches will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except for the competition's exclusive week, which also includes Thursday fixtures. The scheduled kick-off times will be 18:45 (two matches on each day) and 21:00 (remaining matches) CET/CEST. The only exception is the final matchday, where all fixtures will be played simultaneously at 21:00.[19][20]
Times are CET or CEST,[note 2] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
^As part of the scheduling for the 2024–25 UEFA men's club season, each competition had an "exclusive week" in the calendar, with no other competitions scheduled during this week. For the Champions League, this took place on matchday 1 (17–19 September 2024).[18]
^CEST (UTC+2) for dates up to 26 October 2024 (matchdays 1–3), and CET (UTC+1) for dates thereafter (matchdays 4–8).
^ abcdBrest will play their home matches at Stade de Roudourou, Guingamp, instead of their regular stadium, Stade Francis-Le Blé, Brest, which does not meet UEFA requirements.[55]
^ abcdBarcelona will play their home matches at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, instead of their regular stadium, Camp Nou, Barcelona, which is being renovated.[68]
^ abcdDue to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian teams are required to play their home matches at neutral venues until further notice.[77] Therefore, Shakhtar Donetsk will play their home matches at Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany, instead of their regular stadium, Donbas Arena, Donetsk.[78]
^ abcdSturm Graz will play their home matches at Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, instead of their regular stadium, Liebenauer Stadium, Graz, which does not meet UEFA requirements.
^The Bayern Munich v Benfica match, originally scheduled for 21:00, was delayed to 21:15 to allow fans time to get into the stadium following public transport issues.[167]
Note: In 1991–92, the competition was still known as the European Cup, but is included as it was the first to use a group stage format. In that season and 1992–93, there was no knockout phase between the group stage and final.
