Champions League draw LIVE: Man City to face PSG and Liverpool set for Real Madrid clash but Arsenal handed favourable League Phase as Aston Villa draw Celtic
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Champions League draw LIVE: Man City to face PSG and Liverpool set for Real Madrid clash but Arsenal handed favourable League Phase as Aston Villa draw Celtic
Updated: 18:53, 29 Aug 2024The 2024/25 Champions League draw is now complete!
This season, 36 clubs are in the brand new League Phase as UEFA’s elite competition goes through a shake-up this season.
There will be no group stage for the first time ever, with all teams competing in a league table instead.
And now Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Celtic have all found out their fate for the campaign.
City will take on PSG in their toughest clash of eight while Liverpool will be facing reigning champions Real Madrid among others.
Arsenal have been handed a favourable draw and Aston Villa will be marking their return to the competition by welcoming Bayern Munich, Juventus and Celtic.
Check out who’s favourite to win the Champions League this year at talkSPORT BETChampions League Matchday 1 to be held September 17-19This season’s final to take place on May 31 at the Allianz Arena in Munich You can recap the draw in our live blog below…
That’s all from us! And that’s it from talkSPORT.com’s live coverage of the brand-new Champions League draw!
Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa have all found out their eight games for the upcoming campaign.
Matchday 1 will be taking place across September 17-19 while the full schedule for each team will be released on Saturday.
You can read more about the draw below…
Fixture rundownHere’s a full rundown of the draw for the four Premier League teams involved in the Champions League this season:
Manchester City
Inter Milan (H)PSG (A)Club Brugge (H)Juventus (A)Feyenoord (H)Sporting Lisbon (A)Sparta Praha (H)Slovan Bratislava (A)Liverpool
Real Madrid (H)Leipzig (A)Leverkusen (H)AC Milan (A)Lille (H)PSV (A)Bologna (H)Girona (A)
Arsenal
Real Madrid (H)Leipzig (A)Leverkusen (H)AC Milan (A)Lille (H)PSV (A)Bologna (H)Girona (A)Aston Villa
Bayern Munich (H)Leipzig (A)Juventus (H)Club Brugge (A)Celtic (H)Young Boys (A)Bologna (H)Monaco (A)Squint your eyes! If you can see all of those games, here is the full draw!
Pot One, Two, Three and Four have all been drawn and each team has found out their eight fixtures.
It’s fair to say this new system will bring plenty of action and some great fixtures.
It will be interesting to see how things compare to the group stages we’re all so used to…
That’s that! The Champions League draw is now complete!
All 36 teams know their eight games for the League Phase!
Matchday 1 will be taking place from September 17-19.
But teams won’t know who they’re facing just yet.
There are no dates for each fixture confirmed but the full schedule will be released on Saturday.
Villa complete the drawAston Villa know their fixtures for the League Phase!
Unai Emery’s side will face Bayern Munich, Leipzig and Juventus in some huge ties for the club.
Here are all eight of their games:
Bayern Munich (H)Leipzig (A)Juventus (H)Club Brugge (A)Celtic (H)Young Boys (A)Bologna (H)Monaco (A)
Almost there…We’re almost at the end of the Champions League draw!
Pot Four is about to start with Aston Villa about to find out their fate for their first campaign in 42 years.
We already know they’re going to face Celtic and talkSPORT’s Gabby Agbonlahor is looking forward to it.
Agbonlahor said: “That will be a lively fixture!”
Celtic’s schedule And Celtic are now out of the hat!
The Scots have found out their full Champions League schedule of eight games and one of those is a trip to Villa Park!
They’ll also be facing Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta in some tough League Phase ties.
Leipzig (H)Borussia Dortmund (A)Club Brugge (H)Atalanta (A)Young Boys (H)Dinamo Zagreb (A)Slovan Bratislava (H)Aston Villa (A)Pot Three beginsWe’ll see Celtic drawn in this Pot…
They’ve received some of their ties already but we’ll list all eight once they have been confirmed in a moment.
Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon and PSV are some more notable names set to find out their fate.
Gunners’ gamesArsenal have been drawn!
Mikel Arteta’s side have some tough ties against Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan.
But other than that, the Gunners will be pleased with how that draw has worked out for them…
PSG (H) Inter (A) Shakhtar (H) Atalanta (A)Dinamo Zagreb (H)Sporting Lisbon (A)Monaco (H)Girona (A)
Onto Pot TwoArsenal are involved in this one and will get their full eight fixtures very soon.
We’ve also got German champions Bayer Leverkusen to be drawn as well as Europa League winners Atalanta.
Stick with us to find out the Gunners’ draw…
Liverpool’s fate Liverpool are out of the hat and here are their fixtures…
They’ll host Real Madrid in the League Phase while also facing trips to Leipzig and AC Milan!
Champions League newcomers Bolgna and Girona will also be coming up against the Reds.
Real Madrid (H)Leipzig (A) Leverkusen (H)AC Milan (A) Lille (H)PSV (A)Bologna (H)Girona (A)
Games galoreWe’ve had Real Madrid, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Leipzig and Bayern Munich drawn too.
They now know their eight fixtures for the League Phase.
We’re still waiting for Liverpool to find out their fate…
Cristiano Ronaldo is in charge of pressing a button to find out the eight games, what an easy job that is!
First out the hat…Manchester City!
They are the first team ever to be drawn in the new Champions League format!
Their League Phase opponents will be…
Inter Milan (H)PSG (A)Club Brugge (H)Juventus (A)Feyenoord (H)Sporting Lisbon (A)Sparta Praha (H)Slovan Bratislava (A)
Here we go! We’re about to begin the Champions League draw!
We’ll begin with Pot One with each team being drawn by Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo.
One of them will draw a ball and the other will press a button that allows a computer to determine the opponents for the drawn team.
This could be difficult to follow but we’ll try to make it bearable!
New League PhaseZlatan Ibrahimovic and many other stars have just been part of a video explaining how the new 36-team League Phase will work.
Here’s a quick rundown of the new format:
The top eight in the league of 36 will automatically qualify for the round of 16Teams that finish between ninth and 24th with compete in a two-legged knockout play-off, with the winner progressing.From 25th and lower, they will all be eliminated from European competition completely.Then from the last 16 onwards, the format is the same with each knockout round including two legs.
There will now be 189 matches instead of the typical 125 and each team will play at least eight times.
The League Phase will run until the end of January which is extended after typically ending before Christmas.
Superstars on stage Gianluigi Buffon has just been awarded the President’s Award.
And now Cristiano Ronaldo is on stage!
He’s introduced with a great video of his highlights and then walks up from his seat in the crowd.
Ronaldo then receives an award for being the all-time record goalscorer in the Champions League.
Speaking about the competition, he said: “For me, it’s a pleasure to be here and thanks for this award.
“Champions League is the highest in football. The record speaks for itself. The pleasure to play in the competition it’s our motivation.
“When you listen to the music, you turn on. It’s special, I won so many times and the goals scored, it’s great.
“I have nice memories when I come to Monaco because football and ourselves we manage by memories.”
We’re underway! Here we go then!
The Champions League draw ceremony has started!
Katherine Jenkins is currently singing the competition’s anthem to introduce things.
Strap yourselves in for some typical prolonged build-up by UEFA…
We’ll bring you all the important stuff once the draw has actually got underway!
CR7 is here Cristiano Ronaldo is in Monaco for the draw!
The Champions League icon is suited and booted for the event and will be watching on from inside the Grimaldi Forum.
Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer in this competition, netting 141 goals and sitting above Lionel Messi who is on 129.
He has also played the most matches in UEFA’s primary tournament.
The Al Nassr superstar won’t be playing this year, of course, but he’s in attendance to see how things go in the draw.
Almost time! The ceremony is set to get started any minute now!
Proceedings will begin in just under 10 minutes before the build-up to the draw takes place.
The actual draw is expected to get going at around 5:25pm UK time, beginning with Pot One and onwards.
Pedro Pinto and Reshmin Chowdhury will be hosting the event with many guests helping out throughout.
How will the draw work? As we move closer to the Champions League draw getting started, here’s a reminder of how it’s going to work…
The 36 teams are divided into four pots of nine based on their UEFA coefficient ranking.
Each team is then going to be drawn to face two opponents from each of the pots.
It means every side will be playing eight games rather than six, with four of them at home and four away.
Teams cannot face sides from the same country and also can’t be drawn against any more than two sides from a particular country.
Teams are drawn one by one manually, starting with pot one.
But then a computer will randomly calculate their eight opponents in a new addition for this year’s draw.
Pot FourAnd finally, here are the teams in Pot Four:
Slovan BratislavaMonacoSparta PragueAston Villa Bologna Girona VfB Stuttgart Sturm Graz Brest Aston Villa ended their 42-year wait for Champions League football last season after finishing in the Premier League’s top four.
Unai Emery has led them back into Europe and they will be wanting to show a good account of themselves among the elite.
They’re joined in Pot Four by France’s Monaco, Spain’s Girona and Italian side Bologna.
Slovakian outfit Slovan Bratislava are also involved while Stuttgart, Sturm Graz and Sparta Prague qualified too.
This is also a debut campaign for Ligue 1 side Brest who qualified thanks to an impressive domestic season.
Pot ThreeHere are the teams involved in Pot Three:
FeyenoordSporting LisbonPSV EindhovenDinamo ZagrebRed Bull SalzburgLilleRed Star BelgradeYoung BoysCelticIn the third Pot, Celtic take their place and they are the only Scottish team to be playing in the Champions League this season.
The Bhoys only won one game in the group stage last campaign, being eliminated before the knockouts every year since 2012/13.
Former Liverpool assistant manager Pep Ljinders is in charge of RB Salzburg as they look to compete in Europe.
Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon and PSV are all seasoned clubs when it comes to playing on the continent.
Young Boys, Dinamo Zagreb, Lille and Red Star Belgrade are likely to all struggle to progress through the League Phase.
Credit: GettyPot Two Here are the teams involved in Pot Two:
Bayer Leverkusen Atletico Madrid Atalanta Juventus Benfica ArsenalClub BruggeShakhtar Donetsk AC MilanGerman champions Bayer Leverkusen are sitting at the top of Pot Two after reaching the Europa League final last season.
Atalanta beat Leverkusen in that final and earned themselves a place in the Champions League by doing so.
Arsenal are also part of this Pot and will want to be competing for the title after being knocked out in the quarter-finals in 23/24.
Atletico Madrid will be on top form in Europe after the addition of Conor Gallagher while AC Milan and Juventus will want to challenge.
There are some ‘smaller’ sides in Pot Two too, with Benfica, Club Brugge and Shakhtar Donetsk included.
Credit: GettyPot OneHere are the teams involved in Pot One:
Real Madrid Manchester City Bayern Munich Paris Saint-GermainLiverpool Inter Milan Borussia Dortmund RB Leipzig BarcelonaThese are the nine clubs with the highest UEFA coefficient ranking.
Real Madrid are the reigning champions and are seeded highest with Manchester City, who won the title two years ago, second.
Liverpool are also involved in this Pot with Arne Slot preparing for his first European campaign as Reds manager.
Italian champions Inter Milan are seeking their first Champions League win in 14 years while Borussia Dortmund will want to go one further than last campaign.
Harry Kane is still waiting for the first trophy of his career and there will be hopes that Bayern Munich can provide that in Europe.
Barcelona, PSG and RB Leipzig then wrap up the top Pot.
These teams will be drawn two teams from each Pot, including this one, being assigned eight games for the League Phase.
Credit: GettyWho’s involved? Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa are the Premier League representatives in the Champions League.
Celtic are the only Scottish side in the draw.
Real Madrid are hoping for some favourable opponents as they eye a 16th title while PSG and Bayern Munich will be going for glory.
It’s the same case for Barcelona, Inter Milan and last year’s finalists Borussia Dortmund.
Here’s a look at each Pot in more detail…
