The UEFA Champions League has a brand new expanded format for the 2024-25 season and it takes some explaining, but we help you understand it all below.
[ MORE: Latest Champions League table ]
With 36 sides handed eight games against eight different teams — four at home, four away — each side will play two teams each from all four pots determined by coefficient points.
That has led to some incredibly exciting games early on in the competition, with plenty of big boys already squaring off.
Below is everything else you need to know about the upcoming Champions League campaign as Real Madrid aim to retain their crown.
2024-25 UEFA Champions League fixtures & results
Full schedule, dates and times can be found here via UEFA.com
When are the Champions League league phase games? What dates are the Champions League games?
Matchday 7
Tuesday, January 21
12:45pm: Monaco vs Aston Villa
12:45pm: Atalanta vs Sturm Graz
3pm: Atletico Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen
3pm: Bologna vs Borussia Dortmund
3pm: Club Brugge vs Juventus
3pm: Red Star Belgrade vs PSV Eindhoven
3pm: Liverpool vs Lille
3pm: Slovan Bratislava vs Stuttgart
3pm: Benfica vs Barcelona
Wednesday, January 22
12:45pm: Shakhtar Donetsk vs Brest
12:45pm: RB Leipzig vs Sporting Lisbon
3pm: AC Milan vs Girona
3pm: Sparta Prague vs Inter Milan
3pm: Arsenal vs Dinamo Zagreb
3pm: Celtic vs Young Boys
3pm: Feyenoord vs Bayern Munich
3pm: PSG vs Manchester City
3pm: Real Madrid vs RB Salzburg
Matchday 8
Wednesday, January 29
3pm: Aston Villa vs Celtic
3pm: Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Prague
3pm: Borussia Dortmund vs Shakhtar Donetsk
3pm: Young Boys vs Red Star Belgrade
3pm: Barcelona vs Atalanta
3pm: Bayern Munich vs Slovan Bratislava
3pm: Inter Milan vs Monaco
3pm: RB Salzburg vs Atletico Madrid
3pm: Girona vs Arsenal
3pm: Dinamo Zagreb vs AC Milan
3pm: Juventus vs Benfica
3pm: Lille vs Feyenoord
3pm: Manchester City vs Club Brugge
3pm: PSV Eindhoven vs Liverpool
3pm: Sturm Graz vs RB Leipzig
3pm: Sporting Lisbon vs Bologna
3pm: Brest vs Real Madrid
3pm: Stuttgart vs PSG
Champions League results
Matchday 1
Tuesday, September 16
Young Boys 0-3 Aston Villa
Juventus 3-1 PSV Eindhoven
AC Milan 1-3 Liverpool - Highlights, recap & analysis
Bayern Munich 9-2 Dinamo Zagreb
Real Madrid 3-1 Stuttgart
Sporting Lisbon 2-0 Lille
Wednesday, September 17
Sparta Prague 3-0 RB Salzburg
Bologna 0-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Celtic 5-1 Slovan Bratislava
Club Brugge 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
Manchester City 0-0 Inter Milan — Recap & analysis
PSG 1-0 Girona
Thursday, September 18
Feyenoord 0-4 Bayer Leverkusen
Red Star Belgrade 1-2 Benfica
Monaco 1-2 Barcelona
Atalanta 0-0 Arsenal — Recap & analysis
Atletico Madrid 2-1 RB Leipzig
Brest 2-1 Sturm Graz
Matchday 2
Tuesday, October 1
RB Salzburg 0-4 Brest
Stuttgart 1-1 Sparta Prague
Arsenal 2-0 PSG — Highlights & recap
Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 AC Milan
Borussia Dortmund 7-1 Celtic
Barcelona 5-0 Young Boys
Inter Milan 4-0 Red Star Belgrade
PSV Eindhoven 1-1 Sporting Lisbon
Slovan Bratislava 0-4 Manchester City
Wednesday, October 2
Shakhtar Donetsk 0-3 Atalanta
Girona 2-3 Feyenoord
Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich — Highlights & recap
Dinamo Zagreb 2-2 Monaco
Lille 1-0 Real Madrid
Liverpool 2-0 Bologna — Salah scores superb, historic goal
RB Leipzig 2-3 Juventus
Sturm Graz 0-1 Club Brugge
Benfica 4-0 Atletico Madrid
Matchday 3
Tuesday, October 22
Milan 3-1 Club Brugge
Monaco 5-1 Red Star Belgrade
Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk — Highlights & recap
Aston Villa 2-0 Bologna
Girona 2-0 Slovan Bratislava
Juventus 0-1 Stuttgart
PSG 1-1 PSV Eindhoven
Real Madrid 5-2 Borussia Dortmund
Sturm Graz 0-2 Sporting Lisbon
Wednesday, October 23
Atalanta 0-0 Celtic
Brest 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Atletico Madrid 1-3 Lille
Young Boys 0-1 Inter Milan
Barcelona 4-1 Bayern Munich
Salzburg 0-2 Dinamo Zagreb
Manchester City 5-0 Sparta Prague — Haaland scores unique, acrobatic goal
RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool — Highlights & recap
Benfica 1-3 Feyenoord
Matchday 4
Tuesday, November 5
PSV Eindhoven 4-0 Girona
Slovan Bratislava 1-4 Dinamo Zagreb
Bologna 0-1 Monaco
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Sturm Graz
Celtic 3-1 Leipzig
Liverpool 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen — Recap & highlights
Lille 1-1 Juventus
Real Madrid 1-3 AC Milan
Sporting Lisbon 4-1 Manchester City — What we learned about Manchester United’s next manager
Wednesday, November 6
Club Brugge 1-0 Aston Villa
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 Young Boys
Sparta Prague 1-2 Brest
Bayern Munich 1-0 Benfica
Inter Milan 1-0 Arsenal — Recap, analysis & highlights | Arteta upset by penalty
Feyenoord 1-3 RB Salzburg
Red Star Belgrade 2-5 Barcelona
PSG 1-2 Atletico Madrid
Stuttgart 0-2 Atalanta
Matchday 5
Tuesday, November 26
Sparta Prague 0-6 Atletico Madrid
Slovan Bratislava 2-3 AC Milan
Bayer Leverkusen 5-0 RB Salzburg
Young Boys 1-6 Atalanta
Barcelona 3-0 Brest
Bayern Munich 1-0 PSG
Inter Milan 1-0 RB Leipzig
Manchester City 3-3 Feyenoord - Highlights, recap & analysis
Sporting Lisbon 1-5 Arsenal - Highlights, recap & analysis
Wednesday, November 27
Red Star Belgrade 5-1 Stuttgart
Sturm Graz 1-0 Girona
Monaco 2-3 Benfica
Aston Villa 0-0 Juventus - Highlights, recap & analysis
Bologna 1-2 Lille
Celtic 1-1 Club Brugge
Dinamo Zagreb 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
Liverpool 2-0 Real Madrid - Highlights, recap & analysis
PSV Eindhoven 3-2 Shakhtar Donetsk
Matchday 6
Tuesday December 10
Girona 0-1 Liverpool — Highlights & recap
Dinamo Zagreb 0-0 Celtic
Atalanta 2-3 Real Madrid
Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Inter Milan
Club Brugge 2-1 Sporting Lisbon
Salzburg 0-3 PSG
Shakhtar Donetsk 1-5 Bayern Munich
RB Leipzig 2-3 Aston Villa
Brest 1-0 PSV Eindhoven
Wednesday, December 11
Atletico Madrid 3-1 Slovan Bratislava
Lille 3-2 Sturm Graz
AC Milan 2-1 Red Star Belgrade
Arsenal 3-0 Monaco — Highlights & recap
Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Barcelona
Feyenoord 4-2 Sparta Prague
Juventus 2-0 Manchester City — Highlights & recap | Weah, McKennie team up
Benfica 0-0 Bologna
Stuttgart 5-1 Young Boys
When was the Champions League group stage draw?
The draw for the Champions League group stage took place at 12pm ET on Thursday, August 29 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
Explaining how the new Champions League format works
Each team will play eight games in the new league phase of the tournament, against eight different teams. Four games at home and four away.
Teams will be ranked in to one of four pots (full pot list below) and each team will play against two teams from each of the four pots. Teams will play one match at home and one match away against a team from each pot.
The top eight teams in the league phase will qualify for the Round of 16 automatically, while the teams who finish in positions 9-24 will qualify for the knockout round. Teams who finish in positions 25-36 will be eliminated from the Champions League and will not play in any other European competition for the rest of the 2024-25 season.
The eight teams who advance from the knockout round will then face one of the teams who finished in positions 1-8 in the league phase in the Round of 16, and from then on the tournament will be a normal knockout format.
What are the Champions League knockout stage dates?
An extra knockout round has been created, as the teams who finish in spots 9-24 in the league phase will play two-legged ties to reach the Round of 16 where they will face one of the top eight teams from the league phase who qualified automatically for the Round of 16.
- Knockout round play-offs: 11/12 & 18/19 February 2025
- Round of 16: 4/5 & 11/12 March 2025
- Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April 2025
- Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May 2025
- Final: 31 May 2025
When and where is the 2024-25 Champions League final?
The Champions League final will take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich on May 31, 2025.
