This season’s Champions League will have a radically different feel and rhythm with Europe’s premier club competition switching to a 36-team ‘Swiss Model’.
It means four additional teams in the tournament and the end of the group stage. Instead, all the clubs play in one league. Each team will have eight fixtures before the knockout stages, four home and four away, against eight different opponents. Two from each of the four pots.
The top eight at the end of the league phase will be straight through to the last 16, with those between ninth and 24th facing an additional two-legged play-off. For more detail on the format click here.
This is all you need to know about the draw which will shape the first phase of the new-look competition.
When is the Champions League draw?
The fixtures for the league phase will be revealed on Thursday, August 29, at 5pm UK time.
Where is the Champions League draw?
It will be staged in Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum.
How will the Champions League draw work?
Technically, it is not really a draw at all. Uefa say that, given the new format, a manual draw would require nearly 1,000 balls in more than 36 bowls and take more than four hours.
Instead, starting with the supposed strongest teams in Pot One, each of the 36 teams will be drawn from a bowl. A supercomputer will then allocate them their eight league-phase fixtures, which will be shown on a screen for the audience and television viewers at home.
Once this has been done for the nine Pot One clubs, those in Pot Two will discover their other six fixtures (their two games against Pot One opponents having already been revealed). And so on.
Clubs from the same country cannot play each other in the league phase and you can only play two opponents from the same country. An exception could be made for the nation with five clubs in the competition to avoid deadlock, which this season is Italy.
The fixtures should take shape quite quickly and the process ought to be relatively speedy.
How can I watch the Champions League draw?
For UK viewers, the draw will be shown live on TNT Sports. Alternatively, you can follow our dedicated live blog on Thursday.
Which Premier League teams are in the draw?
Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa – the top four teams from the 2023/24 Premier League season
What could the four Champions League pots look like?
This is a projection with the final qualification play-offs rounds to be completed:
Pot One: Man City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona
Pot Two: Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atlanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan
Pot Three: Feyenoord, Sporting CP, PSV, Lille*, PAOK*, Young Boys*, Celtic, Galatasaray*, Union Saint-Gilloise*
Pot Four: Midtylland*, AS Monaco, Sparta Prague*, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Stade Brestois
*These clubs are favourites to progress from their play-offs, but they are yet to qualify
When are the Champions League league-phase games?
The eight matchweeks are:
- September 17-19
- October 1-2
- October 22-23
- November 5-6
- November 26-27
- December 10-11
- January 21-22
- January 29
When will fans know the order and dates of their fixtures?
Uefa say they will be confirmed on Saturday, August 31.
