Real Madrid to find out 24/25 Champions League first-phase opponents today

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Real Madrid will find out today who their first eight opponents in the 2024/25 Champions League will be. The draw will take in Monaco (6 pm, live on Realmadrid TV) and will be the first under the new format of the competition. The current European champions will not be able to come up against other Spanish teams in this phase, nor against more than two opponents from the same country.

The 36 teams will be divided into four pots according to UEFA's coefficient rankings. The clubs will play two sides from each group, one at home and one away. Software will draw the eight opponents and decide the home and away fixtures. The dates and times of the matches will be announced on Saturday 31 August.

New format
In this first phase, all 36 teams will make up a league standings. It will run from 17 September to 29 January, with the top eight teams progressing directly to the Round of 16 and the teams from 9th to 24th place contesting a play-off round with two-legged ties. The remaining teams are knocked out, without a place in the Europa League. From the Round of 16 onwards, the traditional path is followed until the final, which will take place on 31 May 2025 in Munich.

Qualifying teams
Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona and Atletico Madrid.
England: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Germany: Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern München, Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund.
Italy: Inter, Milan, Juventus, Atalanta and Bologna.
France: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and Brest.
Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.
Portugal: Sporting Portugal and Benfica.
Austria: Sturm Graz and Salzburg
Belgium: Brugge.
Scotland: Celtic.
Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk.
Switzerland: Young Boys.
Czech Republic: Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague.
Croatia: Dynamo Zagrev.
Serbia: Crvena zvezda
Slovakia: Slovan Bratislava