Champions League first stage inventory shock

The draw for the first stage of the Champions League took place in a completely new format and, as expected, Liverpool-Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain-Manchester City, Barcelona-Bayern Munich and many other selected posters were retained on Thursday in Monaco.

This new formula, consisting of 36 clubs instead of 32 and without groups, has already succeeded in its first bet, despite a confusing draw: offering a showdown between the European leaders from the first stage.

Defending champions and fifteen-time champions Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan in the last final and travel to Anfield to challenge Liverpool.

Its plans are no tougher than Manchester City’s. The English champions will face Italian champions and 2023 World Cup finalists Inter Milan, play against the Citizens, and will travel to the Parc des Princes to face French champions Paris Saint-Germain, with Juventus waiting in Turin.

Notably, Bayern Munich will host Paris Saint-Germain, who are still chasing their first title despite injecting millions in the transfer market in more than a decade, and will fly to Barcelona.

Of the nine clubs in the first cap, Paris a priori inherited the most difficult draw, drawing Arsenal in London, in addition to welcoming Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, as well as away to Munich.

“This is the best competition in the world, with the best clubs in the world. It’s more difficult with the new format, but that’s what we like. It’s very exciting. We have difficult games but we have to think match by match. As the coach (Luis Enrique) said, we have a collective goal,” reacted PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

On the other hand, FC Barcelona’s plans seem to be more relaxed: in addition to the duels with Bayern and Dortmund, Barca will also face Atalanta Bergamo, Benfica, Young Boys Bern, Red Star Belgrade, Brest and AS Monaco away from home.

New format, massive posters

This large number of impacts is partly due to the disappearance of the group stage, which had drawn one team from each of the four hats. From now on, any team will face two teams. Therefore, the group stage is no longer a group stage, but a single group format, with each club playing eight games, four at home and four away.

The top eight teams in the group will get a direct ticket to the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th will need to go through the play-offs to advance. The remaining games will be played on the classic table, and the final will be held at Bayern Munich’s home stadium.

Plans for the first phase, which will begin on September 17 and end on January 29, will be announced on Saturday.

The reform was designed in the sporting interests of UEFA, with posters from the first round, but also had political purposes, pulling out a possible Super League, a project that has frequently resurfaced.

Not forgetting the financial goal of bringing in more matches, advertising revenue and income for the club.

The winner, who will be crowned at the end of the final in Munich on May 31, 2025, will receive a cheque for at least 86 million euros, compared to 68 million euros previously. In total, 2.467 billion euros will be distributed to the participants (2 billion euros in 2023-2024).