How does Champions League draw work? And watch live on BBC

Posted by Admin August 28, 2024 Football

The new-look Champions League draw will be held on Thursday from 17:00 BST and you can watch it live on the BBC Sport website.

Teams will discover which eight clubs they will meet (four at home and four away) – but no actual groups will be drawn.

All the teams will be in one 36-team league phase, as compared to the past format of eight four-team groups.

So how will the draw work?

Team will be placed in four pots according to their seeding. Each team face two teams from each pot, one at home and one away.

A team will be drawn out of a pot and then Uefa’s software will decide their eight opponents – and whether they will be at home or away.

It means more matches between the biggest teams. For example, Manchester City could face Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

The software stops teams playing rivals from their own country – and means each team can only play two clubs from any one country.

Uefa says the computer system plans ahead so will ensure no teams further down the line get drawn against teams they cannot face.

How to watch Champions League on BBC

You can watch the Champions League draw live along with analysis on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website between 17:00 BST and 18:25 on Thursday.

For the next three years, from 22:00 on the Wednesday of Champions League matchweeks, there will be match-by-match highlights available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will be a highlights show on BBC One on the Wednesday, running from 22:40 to 00:00.

There will also be clips online and on social media, as well as live text commentary and radio coverage for all matchweeks on the BBC Sport website.

How does the new format work?

Champions League format graphic — [BBC Sport]

Teams who finish in the top eight will qualify automatically for the last 16, while those who place ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off for the chance to join them.

Whoever finishes 25th or lower will be eliminated and will not be entered into the Europa League.

From the last 16 onwards, the Champions League will continue to follow its existing format with the final taking place at a neutral venue – Munich this year.

The number of matches in the new format will increase from 125 to 189.

Each team will play a minimum of eight – instead of six – and a maximum of 17.

The league phase will now run until the end of January instead of ending before Christmas.