UEFA Champions League draw: The 36 teams awaiting their fate
The stage is set for Thursday’s UEFA Champions League group stage draw, live on Paramount+ from Noon ET. The playoff round completed the equation with seven clubs joining those directly qualified to the big event. The 36 teams will be in an automatic draw to decide their four home and four away games.
Although the new format is strange for everyone, we’ll also have some debutants at this stage. Similarly, some big names will be missing out on the premier competition. Let’s run down the 36 clubs that will enjoy Champions League soccer until the end of January 2025.
Top-four leagues dominate proceedings
Jose Mourinho’s Porto is the only side out of the top-four leagues to win the Champions League since the 1995-96 season. The new format, which adds two more group stage games and a further knockout round for half of the teams, is more beneficiary to clubs for the big fishes.
Yet there are surprise names from each of these high-profile leagues. 1981-82 European Cup winners Aston Villa will be making a first appearance in the Champions League era.
Over in Italy, Bologna is in the group stage of Europe’s top competition for the first time. VfB Stuttgart, who survived relegation to 2. Bundesliga via playoff the previous season, will return to the grand stage while it’s the first European qualification for LaLiga’s new underdogs Girona.
Based on their performances in the 2023-24 season, Serie A and Bundesliga gained extra spots in the group stage. The two Milan sides, rejuvenated Juventus and Europa League winners Atalanta will accompany debutant Bologna. Last season’s finalists Borussia Dortmund secured the last spot in Germany after Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig.
Premier League will present three former winners of the competition. As usual, Manchester City and Liverpool will be among the favorites. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal might set their main target at a league triumph, but a first European silverware would mean the world for the Gunners.
But there is no doubt about the team to beat. Defending champions Real Madrid further strengthened with the blockbuster signing of Kylian Mbappe. The atmosphere at their arch-rivals Barcelona was gloomy a few weeks ago, but they started the LaLiga campaign with a perfect record under Hansi Flick, a sextuple winner with Bayern.
Two-time finalists with Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid will also aim big after a summer spending spree.
16 national associations represented
France will also have four teams for the first time in the competition’s history. LOSC Lille squeezed past Mourinho’s Fenerbahce and Slavia Prague in the qualifiers to join PSG, AS Monaco and debutant Brest, who will play their games at Guingamp’s Stade de Roudourou.
Eredivisie and Liga Portugal have two participants each with PSV, Feyenoord, Sporting and Benfica booking their tickets. Club Brugge, Celtic, Sturm Graz and Shakhtar Donetsk are the remaining four teams to automatically enter the group stage after winning their respective leagues.
Young Boys, RB Salzburg, Sparta Prague, Dynamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava and Red Star Belgrade snatched their spots in Thursday’s seeding.
UEFA Champions League draw to be made from four pots of nine teams
The 36 teams are seeded into four pots in terms of their European coefficient. There will be no games between clubs from the same league at this stage. Each team will face two home and two away opponents from each of the four pots.
Only the top-eight ranked teams will secure an automatic passage to the next round. Teams ranked from 9th to 24th will enter a knockout round to confirm the remaining places in the round of 16.
Photo: IMAGO / Noah Wedel