New Delhi: UEFA announced the schedule for the 2024/25 Champions League following the draw. This will be the first ever edition of the new format of the premier European club competition which consists of 36 teams as opposed to the previous 32.
The fans even got to witness a different system of drawing the fixture. Instead of two hosts selecting ballots with team’s names on it, one host took out a name of a team following which an automated system chose the opponents for the said team.
Liverpool and Manchester City will be beginning their Champions League campaign against the two Milan clubs. Liverpool will travel to San Siro to face off against AC Milan whereas Inter will play the English champions at the Etihad Stadium. Defending champions Real Madrid will begin their campaign at home against Stuttgart. Arsenal will be playing Europa League winners, Atalanta whereas Monaco will host FC Barcelona in what is an exciting opening gameweek/
The original format comprised eight groups of four team each with all teams playing two games (home and away) against their group members. However according to the new format there will be a league phase in the tournament with each team having to play eight games against different opponents. The top eight placed teams will be placed in the Round of 16 whereas the teams that have finished from 9th-24th will play a pre-quarter final round following which the regular knockout stage will continue. IANS
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