Champions League draw LIVE! Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City and Aston Villa learn fixtures in new format
Champions League draw LIVE
The revamped Champions League format launches today with the draw for the new league stage, which replaces the group stage. Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and - back after 41 years - Aston Villa are the English teams in the mix as 36 clubs learn who they will face all the way until the end of January.
It’s quite a departure from the old format, with each club playing eight different opponents in one-off games, four of which will be home and four away, as they look to climb up the league stable and secure a top-eight finish and earn a seeding for the knockout stage and avoid a two-legged play-off round in the process.
The draw will be completed by a computer, as some feared a by-hand selection process could have taken as long as four hours to complete, but that is no promise of a quick a simple show tonight. Giorgio Marchetti and Pedro Pinto will grace us with their presence in Monaco from 5pm UK time, so follow along with us below!
Champions League draw latest updates
English teams' draw in full
New 36-team format explained
18:22 , Alex Young
Thanks for joining along. We’ll have more reaction on the site shortly.
18:21 , Alex Young
Here’s the schedule. Remember that UEFA will confirm the exact order of the games on Saturday, so the schedule will not match the draw order.
18:15 , Alex Young
Arsenal should be relatively happy with that, I think, especially as they were in Pot 2.
Man City get a slightly harder draw on paper, but not too much in it.
Liverpool will not be too happy, you’d imagine. Aston Villa will be really up against it but will fancy their chances... and that Celtic clash will be a corker.
18:08 , Alex Young
Arsenal will face: Inter Milan, PSG, Atalanta, Shakhtar, Dinamo, Sporting, Monaco and Girona.
Man City will face: Inter Milan, Juventus, PSG, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, Sporting, Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava.
Liverpool will face: Real Madrid, Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan, Lille, PSV Eindhoven, Bologna and Girona.
Aston Villa will face: Bayern Munich, Leipzig, Juventus, Club Brugge, Celtic,Young Boys, Bologna and Monaco.
18:07 , Alex Young
Right, that’s the lot. I’ll have the England teams recap with you shortly.
18:03 , Alex Young
Aston Villa will face...
Bayern, Leipzig, Juventus, Club Brugge, Celtic, Young Boys, Bologna, Monaco.
Pot 4
17:59 , Alex Young
Let’s see how Aston Villa end up with.
17:58 , Alex Young
Sporting will face...
Man City, Leipzig, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Lille, PSV, Bologna, Sturm Graz.
17:58 , Alex Young
Celtic will face...
Leipzig, Dortmund, Club Brugge, Atalanta, Young Boys, Dinamo, Bratislava and Aston Villa!
Battle of Britain!
17:57 , Alex Young
Salzburg will face...
PSG, Real Madrid, Atletico, Leverkusen, Dinamo, Feyenoord, Brest and Sparta Prague
17:56 , Alex Young
Red Star will face...
Barcelona, Inter, Benfica, Milan, PSV, Young Boys, Stuttgart, Monaco.
Gotta fear of them.
17:56 , Alex Young
Dinamo will face...
Dortmund, Bayern, Milan, Arsenal, Celtic, Salzburg, Monaco, Bratislava
17:55 , Alex Young
Feyenoord will face...
Bayern, Man City, Leverkusen, Benifca, Salzburg, Lille, Sparta Prague, Girona
17:54 , Alex Young
PSV will face...
Liverpool, PSG, Shakhtar, Juventus, Sporting, Red Star, Girona and Brest
17:54 , Alex Young
Lille will face...
Real Madrid, Liverpool, Juventus, Atletico, Feyenoord, Sporting, Sturm Graz, Bologna
17:53 , Alex Young
Young Boys will face...
Inter, Barcelona, Atalanta, Shakhtar, Red Star, Celtic, Aston Villa, Stuttgart
Pot 3 time
17:51 , Alex Young
No English teams to add here.
17:50 , Alex Young
Last team in Pot 2 is Shakhtar, they will play...
Bayern, Dortmund, Atalanta, Arsenal, Young Boys, PSV, Brest and Bologna.
17:49 , Alex Young
Juventus will play...
Man City, Leipzig, Benfica, Club Brugge, PSV, Lille, Stuttgart and Aston Villa.
17:48 , Alex Young
AC Milan will play...
Liverpool, Real Madrid, Brugge, Leverkusen, Red Star, Dinamo, Girona and Bratislava
17:47 , Alex Young
Benfica will play...
Barcelona, Bayern, Aletico, Juventus, Feyenoord, Red Star, Bologna, Monaco
17:46 , Alex Young
Arsenal time!
They will play PSG, Inter, Atalanta, Shakhtar, Dinamo, Sporting, Monaco and Girona.
Not too bad!
17:46 , Alex Young
Bayer Leverkusen will play...
Inter, Liverpool, Milan, Atleti, Salzburg, Feyenoord, Sparta Prague and Brest.
17:45 , Alex Young
Club Brugge will play...
Dortmund, Man City, Juventus, Milan, Sporting, Celtic, Aston Villa, Sturm Graz.
That’s rough.
17:44 , Alex Young
Atalanta will play...
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, Shakhtar, Celtic, Young Boys, Sturm Graz, Stuttgart.
17:43 , Alex Young
Atletico Madrid will face...
Leipzig, PSG, Leverkusen, Benfica, Lille, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague.
17:43 , Alex Young
Atletico Madrid will face...
Leipzig, PSG, Leverkusen, Benfica, Lille, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague.
Pot 2 time
17:42 , Alex Young
Arsenal already know they are facing PSG and Inter.
17:39 , Alex Young
PSG complete Pot 1.
They get Man City, Bayern, Atletico, Arsenal, PSV, Salzburg, Girona and Stuttgart.
17:38 , Alex Young
Liverpool’s turn!
Real Madrid, Leipzig, Leverkusen, Milan, Lille, PSV, Bologna and Girona.
They should be happy with that.
17:37 , Alex Young
Real Madrid now!
They will play: Dortmund, Liverpool, AC Milan, Atalanta, Salzburg, Lille, Stuttgart, Brest
17:36 , Alex Young
Barcelona will play: Bayern, Dortmund, Atalanta, Benfica, Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade, Brest and Monaco.
Not too bad at first look.
17:35 , Alex Young
Ronaldo is enjoying himself pushing this big button.
Barcelona up next!
17:35 , Alex Young
Dortmund’s time now.
They get: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Shakhtar, Club Brugge, Celtic, Dinamo, Strurm Graz, Bologna.
17:34 , Alex Young
RB Leipzig out of Pot 1 next.
They get: Liverpool, Inter, Juventus, Atletico, Sporting, Celtic, Aston Villa, Sturm Graz.
17:33 , Alex Young
Bayern vs Aston Villa is a lovely tie for the Villans.
17:33 , Alex Young
Bayern up next! They get...
PSG, Barcelona, Benfica, Shakhtar, Dinamo, Feyenoord, Slovan Bratislava and Aston Villa.
17:32 , Alex Young
Inter Milan our next, the already have Man City and now get...
Leipzig, Man City, Arsenal, Leverksen, Red Star Belgrade, Young Boys, Monaco, Sparta Prague.
17:31 , Alex Young
Ok, right, so Man City are first out of Pot 1.
They get: Inter, PSG, Club Brugge, Juventus, Feyenoord, Sporting, Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava.
This is very quick.
17:30 , Alex Young
Marchetti says his “heartbeat is on the rise” as the new format draw begins.
17:27 , Alex Young
The full schedule for the fixtures will be confirmed on Saturday.
A reminder of the pots
17:25
Each team plays two teams from each pot, but not one from the same country and only two from the same league.
Pot 1: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona
Pot 2: Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan
Pot 3: Feyenoord, Sporting CP, PSV Eindhoven, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, RB Salzburg, Lille, Red Star Belgrade, Young Boys
Pot 4: Monaco, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Brest, Slovan Bratislava, Sparta Prague
17:22 , Alex Young
Oh, it’s business time. Giorgio Marchetti is on stage.
17:21 , Alex Young
Zlatan says: “The best club competition in the world, just got better!”
“I’ve never said this before, but you don’t need me. Let the tournament speak for itself.”
17:19 , Alex Young
Ok, now a star-studded video to explain the new format.
Aleksander Ceferin, Gianluigi Buffon, Rodri, Ruben Dias, Ousmane Dembele, Luis Figo, Kate Abdo, Robbie Keane and, of course, Zlatan Ibrahimovic all involved.
Ceferin makes a joke about Ibra never winning the Champions League. Didn’t look like it went down terribly well.
17:16 , Alex Young
"The Champions League and goals is like [tomato] ketchup, when you open they come,” says Ronaldo.
17:14 , Alex Young
And now an award for Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the Champions League’s all-time top scorer.
He wins the award being the record all-time leading scorer.
“If we think about the Champions League, we think about Ronaldo. If we think about football, we think about Ronaldo,” says Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin.
Ceferin then says he hopes we’ll see Ronaldo playing in the Champions League soon, to which Ronaldo says: “I play in the Asian Champions League, it’s the Champions League too!”
17:06 , Alex Young
Pedro Pinto promises the new “league phase” will bring “the best of the best for clubs, players and fans.”
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin is on stage to award Gianluigi Buffon with the Uefa President Award.
Yeah, me too.
17:03 , Alex Young
Oh, we’ve got a new Champions League theme!
Performed by Welsh opera singer Katherine Jenkins, this is quite something.
17:00 , Alex Young
Right, it’s almost Giorgio Marchetti and Pedro Pinto O’Clock.
Aston Villa's return after four decades
16:57 , Alex Young
A word for Aston Villa before the draw, back at Europe’s top table for the first time in 41 years.
They’ve won this competition before, of course, in its former guise as the European Cup, which is one more than Arsenal.
It was a stunning achievement from manager Unai Emery last season, who beat champions Man City and did the double over former club the Gunners.
Emery knows a thing or two about winning in Europe, having lifted the Europa League a remarkable four times.
He reached the Champions League semi-finals with Villarreal three seasons ago, but otherwise has struggled to make too much of an impact on the competition. And don’t mention the word La Remuntada to him.
Who has qualifed?
16:46 , Alex Young
Not long to go now until the draw. Here are the 36 teams in the mix.
England: Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa
Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Atletico Madrid
Germany: Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern, Leipzig, Dortmund
Italy: Inter Milan, AC Milan, Bologna, Juventus, Atalanta
France: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Brest
Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord
Portugal: Sporting, Benfica
Belgium: Club Brugge
Scotland: Celtic
Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk
Austria: Sturm Graz
Qualifiers: Young Boys, Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava, Red Star Belgrade, Sparta Prague, Lille, Red Bull Salzburg
16:37 , Alex Young
Cristiano Ronaldo has arrived. He hasn’t played in this competition for a while.
Latest winner odds
16:29 , Alex Young
Here's how the bookies see the runners and riders ahead of the draw.
Man City: 5/2
Real Madrid: 3/1
Arsenal: 10/1
Bayern Munich: 12/1
Liverpool: 14/1
Barcelona: 14/1
PSG: 18/1
Inter Milan: 25/1
Leverkusen: 28/1
Atalanta: 33/1
Atletico Madrid: 33/1
Dortmund: 33/1
Juventus: 33/1
AC Milan: 33/1
RB Leipzig: 50/1
Aston Villa: 50/1
(Odds via Betfair.)
But why the new format? Maths was the answer
16:19 , Alex Young
"We're all football fans and we want to increase the quality of the competition for the fans. We use mathematics to simulate the competition from the first match to the end.
“We wanted to see if it would increase the number of matches between the top teams. Would this give the bottom teams more chances to get more points? We run quantitative analysis to improve the big picture. The maths gave us an illustration of how the competition would evolve.
"We simulated that qualification should be possible with an average of 7.6 points, which means two victories and two draws. In the new system, teams are seeded into 'pots' of similar-strength teams, so now everyone can dream of qualifying."
Why the draw will be (partly) decided by a computer
16:05 , Alex Young
The draw tonight will be aided by a computer after fears the new format would take four hours to complete manually.
"We would have needed 1,000 balls!" Stéphane Anselmo, head of competitions strategic development at UEFA explained.
"Step one of the draw is still physical; someone will still draw a ball from a bowl. However, we now have 36 teams who each need eight opponents drawn. We would have had to prepare balls for every possible eligible opponent – it would have taken far too long. So we will draw each team's name with a ball, and their opponents will then be randomly selected by the computer.
"The computer will calculate all future options simultaneously so that we never find ourselves at a deadlock."
The stage is set
15:45 , Alex Young
New format... and a new look? The Grimaldi Forum in Monaco plays host from 5pm UK time.
Champions League league stage schedule
15:34 , Alex Young
The exact make-up of each week in terms of kick-off times and match dates for the new Champions League ‘league’ phase will be provided later this week by Uefa.
Matchday 1: September 17-19, 2024
Matchday 2: October 1/2, 2024
Matchday 3: October 22/23, 2024
Matchday 4: November 5/6, 2024
Matchday 5: November 26/27, 2024
Matchday 6: December 10/11, 2024
Matchday 7: January 21/22, 2025
Matchday 8: January 29, 2025
Who could Liverpool face?
15:25 , Alex Young
Similar boat than Arsenal, as every team faces two opponents from each of the pot fours.
Dream scenario: RB Leipzig, Barcelona, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, Sturm Graz, Slovan Bratislava
Nightmare scenario: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, PSV, Sporting CP, Monaco, Girona
Who could Arsenal face?
15:08 , Alex Young
Dream scenario: RB Leipzig, Barcelona, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, Sturm Graz, Slovan Bratislava
Nightmare scenario: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, PSV, Sporting CP, Monaco, Girona
Confirmed pots
14:55 , Alex Young
Pot 1: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona
Pot 2: Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan
Pot 3: Feyenoord, Sporting CP, PSV Eindhoven, Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, RB Salzburg, Lille, Red Star Belgrade, Young Boys
Pot 4: Monaco, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Brest, Slovan Bratislava, Sparta Prague
New format explained
14:43 , Alex Young
Instead of 32 teams being divided into eight groups of four, all 36 teams in this year’s competition will form a single opening league table.
Each of the teams will play four games at home and four away. The eight fixtures a team will play in total are two games more than teams played in last year’s edition and will be against eight different clubs.
After the initial phase, the top eight teams in the league table will advance directly into the knockout stages.
Teams who finish between ninth and 24th will enter a play-off round, while teams who finish 25th and below will be eliminated from European competition altogether - with no consolation route into the Europa League on offer.
How to watch the Champions League draw
14:31 , Alex Young
TV channel: The draw will be shown on TNT Sports 1. Coverage starts at 5pm BST, with the draw commencing soon after.
Live stream: Subscribers will be able to watch on the Discovery+ app. The draw will also be shown for free on UEFA.com and the TNT Sports YouTube channel.
Live blog: Follow the draw with Standard Sport’s blog!
Welcome
14:23 , Alex Young
Good afternoon and welcome to the Standard’s LIVE coverage of the Champions League draw.
A new season brings a new format as 36 teams now have a place at Europe’s top table.
Group stage is gone, so long live the league stage... all the way until the end of January. More on that shortly.
The draw is due to start at 5pm BST. Stick with us.
