The Champions League returns this year with a radically different format, one that sees each team play EIGHT group games. The 8 will be split into four home games and four away ones, but you don’t play the same team home and away- instead there are 8 different group opponents.
The group stage in 24/25 has 36 teams this year (up from 32 in previous years), and the table will be one big, combined log. Teams that finish 1-8 will directly progress to the knockout stages, while 9-24 will face each other in a playoff. 25-36 will be eliminated from Europe altogether (no EL for them)
Premier League opponents in UCL this year (2024/2025)
Man City (Home): Inter, Brugge, Feyenoord, Sparta
Man City (Away): PSG, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon, Slovan Bratislava
Liverpool (Home): Real Madrid, Leverkusen, Lille, Bologna
Liverpool (Away): Leipzig, AC Milan, PSV, Girona
Arsenal (Home): PSG, Shakhtar, Dinamo Zagreb, Monaco
Arsenal (Away): Inter, Atalanta, Sporting Lisbon, Girona
Liverpool appear to have the toughest draw on paper, although City have some tricky fixtures away from home. Arsenal have a very winnable fixture list.
England’s fourth representative at this tournament are Aston Villa, and here are their GS opponents
AVFC (Home): Bayern, Juventus, Celtic, Bologna
AVFC (Away): Leipzig, Brugge, Young Boys, Monaco
Villa will host Bayern, Juve and Celtic at home- some very nice fixtures for Unai Emery’s side.
England’s other representatives in European club competition this season are Spurs and Man Utd (Europa League) and Chelsea (Conference League)
Arsenal have no excuses for not finishing top 8 with that fixture list.