Champions League, draw guide: live coverage on Thursday

The new UEFA Champions League is about to kick off. On Thursday, 29 August, Inter will learn their path in Europe’s premier competition, which this year features a completely revamped format.

The diary date for all Nerazzurri fans is Thursday at 18:00 CEST in Monte Carlo, where the draw for the single-league phase of the Champions League will take place. The event will be broadcast live on the Club's official channels: fans can follow the draw on inter.it, the official app, Inter TV, and the YouTube channel.

The new Champions League format features 36 teams, with a league phase replacing the traditional group stage. Teams will play eight matches against eight different opponents—four at home and four away. The results will contribute to a single league table that includes all 36 teams. The top 8 will advance directly to the Round of 16; teams finishing between 9th and 24th place will compete in an additional round to reach the Round of 16. The remaining teams will be eliminated.

HOW THE DRAW WORKS

The new draw system is hybrid: one team is drawn manually, and then the opponents are randomly selected by dedicated software.

THE POTS

Teams are divided into four pots based on their respective coefficients. Pot 1 includes the Champions League titleholder and the 7 teams with the highest coefficients.

The process starts with the nine teams in Pot 1. A ball is manually drawn at random. An automatic software then randomly selects the eight opponents, two from each pot.

The software also randomly determines which teams will play at home and which will play away. Each team will face two opponents from the same pot, playing one match at home and one away.

THE RULES

The software follows specific principles to ensure that teams do not face another team from the same national federation. Additionally, a team can face a maximum of two teams from the same nation.

THE DATES

The first matchday of the single-league phase of the competition will begin on 17 September, while the eighth and final matchday of this phase will take place on 29 January 2025.

Here are all the dates for the single-league phase of the upcoming UEFA Champions League:

• Matchday 1: 17–19 September 2024

• Matchday 2: 1/2 October 2024

• Matchday 3: 22/23 October 2024

• Matchday 4: 5/6 November 2024

• Matchday 5: 26/27 November 2024

• Matchday 6: 10/11 December 2024

• Matchday 7: 21/22 January 2025

• Matchday 8: 29 January 2025

After the playoffs, which will be drawn in Nyon on 31 January 2025 and played on 11-12 February (first leg) and 18-19 February (second leg), there will be the final draw, which will determine the pairings for the Round of 16 and the rest of the knockout stage, also in Nyon, on 21 February 2025.

As for the final stages of the tournament, the Round of 16 will take place on 4-5 March (first leg) and 11-12 March (second leg), while the quarter-finals will be on 8-9 April (first leg) and 15-16 April (second leg). The semi-finals will be played on 29-30 April (first leg) and 6-7 May (second leg).