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Champions League group-stage draw: When is it and who could Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Celtic face? | Football News

The Champions League group-stage draw will see Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Celtic discover their opponents for the opening round of the 2024/25 edition.

When is the draw?

The 2024/25 Champions League group stage draw takes place at 5pm (BST) on Thursday August 29 in Monaco.

Who is in the draw?

Twenty-nine teams have qualified automatically for this year’s Champions League group stage, with 25 having done so via their 2023/24 league position.

Shakhtar Donetsk and Benfica qualified by virtue of the Champions League and Europa League winners having already booked their spots via their domestic league performance or as a result of their country’s collective performance in Europe last season.

Two leagues – Italy and Germany – have been rewarded with an extra place based on performance in Europe last year.

Seven further teams have booked their places via the play-offs.

England: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City

Spain: Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Real Madrid

Germany: Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Stuttgart

Italy: AC Milan, Atalanta, Bologna, Inter Milan, Juventus

France: Brest, Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain

Portugal: Benfica, Sporting Lisbon

Netherlands: Feyenoord, PSV

Austria: Sturm Graz

Scotland: Celtic

Belgium: Club Brugge

Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk

*Seven play-off teams still need to be added

How does the draw work?

With the number of teams having expanded from 32 to 36 in the Champions League, the biggest change is a transformation from the traditional group stage to a single league phase including all participating teams.

Every club will now be guaranteed a minimum of eight league-stage games against eight different opponents (four home games, four away) rather than the previous six matches against three teams, played on a home-and-away basis.

No team can play a side from their own league at this stage, although teams from England and Scotland could be drawn against each other. UEFA will confirm any other restrictions ahead of the draw ceremony.

The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the knockout stages, while the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure a place in the last 16 of the competition.

Teams ranked 25-36 are eliminated from all competitions.