Welcome to the Champions League draw live!
— Liverpool and Manchester City are in Pot 1 with holders, Real Madrid and heavyweights, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
— Arsenal are in Pot 2 with the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Milan.
— Celtic are in Pot 4 with Feyenoord, Sporting and Lille.
— Aston Villa are set for Pot 4, with the likes of Monaco, Girona and Bologna.
The draw begins at 5pm BST
It's all change for the Champions League draw this time around – and we'll be on hand to talk you through it as it happens.
The English representation comes in the form of last season's Premier League champions, Manchester City, their closest title challengers, Arsenal and Liverpool, and – back for the first time since the 1980s – Aston Villa. Scottish champions Celtic are involved, too.
It promises to be like no draw we've ever had. This should be fun…
Here are the pots for today:
Pot 1
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Bayern Munich
Paris Saint-Germain
Liverpool
Inter
Borussia Dortmund
RB Leipzig
Barcelona
Pot 2
Bayer Leverkusen
Atletico Madrid
Atalanta
Juventus
Benfica
Arsenal
Club Brugge
Shakhtar Donetsk
Milan
Pot 3
Feyenoord
Sporting
PSV Eindhoven
Dinamo Zagreb
Red Bull Salzburg
Lille
Red Star
Young Boys
Celtic
Pot 4
Slovan Bratislava
Monaco
Sparta Prague
Aston Villa
Bologna
Girona
VfB Stuttgart
Sturm Graz
Brest
There are more than a few surprises this time around in the tournament…
They say that modern football is a table that only the elite dine at. Yet last season saw each of Europe's top five leagues somewhat taken hostage by the underdogs.
In England, it was Aston Villa, beating the likes of Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United to the coveted fourth spot in the league, while mounting a change to the Europa Conference League semi-finals. And the Premier League wasn't alone.
In France, Brest repeated Lens' heroics of the season before to qualify for the Champions League. Bologna earned a place in Italy, while Girona put up a title challenge before the inevitability of Real Madrid romping home in the final straight.
Germany showed us an underdog actually following through with their league triumph, though – and while Bayer Leverkusen went Invincible to lift the Bundesliga, Stuttgart qualified for the Champions League, too, to give us another underdog to boot.
How will they all do? And will any of them get to the knockouts?
The English representatives all have different expectations this time around
Naturally, Manchester City are joint-favourites for the Champions League alongside Real Madrid. Anything other than a second title will be a disappointment for Pep Guardiola's side.
Arsenal and Liverpool, meanwhile, are looking to upset the odds. Liverpool have the history with the competition – while Arsenal are looking to make it. Villa, meanwhile, have the history but little expectation aside of that – and a quarter-final would represent a huge campaign for them.
How the draw works
UEFA seem to revel in making these things as laborious as possible, so while there's literally no reason they couldn't just generate all the fixtures and release them into the wild now it's all computer-generated anyway, we're going to get a very long, drawn out procedure today.
It works like this: they're going to draw out one team at a time using physical balls (leave it), announce who it is, and then show us the fixtures the computer has come up with.
We presume they are doing this 95% to create a sense of ceremony that we're supposed to be impressed by but in reality all just find achingly tedious, and 5% to assuage people who don't understand what 'random' means unless they see a load of balls being swirled around in a plexiglass bowl.
Each side will play two random sides from each pot, including their own pot, for a total of eight games. They will be a mix of home and away games, which will also be randomly determined.
The only element that isn't random is that nobody will be playing any sides from their own country, and nobody will be playing more than two sides from any one country.
How is qualification from the league phase determined?
All the results from all the league phase games will go into a fat 36-team league table.
At the end of it all, the top eight sides will go straight into the round of 16, while those who finish between 9th and 16th will be allocated two-legged play-off games against the sides who finish from 17th to 24th.
The winners of those play-off games will then join the teams who finished 1st-8th in the round of 16.
See? Simple.
How to watch along
Not to do ourselves out of a job, because we're sure if you're here for the draw it's because you either love FourFourTwo very deeply (and why wouldn't you) or because you have a reason you can't just watch along.
But if you're in the UK want to have it on in the background, it will be shown on BBC iPlayer as well from 5pm.
The new boys
As we've alluded to, there's a few Champions League first-timers in the draw today.
Aston Villa are former European champions, winning the European Cup in 1982, but have not qualified for the top table of continental club competition since reaching the quarter-finals as defending champions.
Bologna finished fifth in Serie A - their best showing since 1971 - but got a berth thanks to Italy's coefficient earning them one of the extra Champions League spots.
Brest rose from 14th in 2022/23 to finish third in Ligue 1 last season, marking their first ever appearance in any of UEFA's club competitions.
Girona have also enjoyed something of an ascent in La Liga, jumping seven places from 10th to 3rd. Like Brest, they have never played in European competition before.
And finally, Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava enter the Champions League for the first time. They actually have some pedigree, however: they won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1969, beating Barcelona in the final.
The view from the studio
Not too long to go now before things get under way in Monaco.
Here's the view from the studio, with Ol' Cuppy (as we all call it) looking resplendent.
Pedro Pinto will be overseeing proceedings. You probably know him already, if draws and award shows are your jam (you weirdo).
The master
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has plenty of happy memories in this competition. Last season's victory with Real Madrid was his fifth as a manager: two with AC Milan, and three with Real across two spells.
That's the most of any manager in the history of the European Cup and Champions League; Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola are next on the list, with three each.
Oh...and Ancelotti won it twice as a player for Milan, too. Is this season going to be number eight for him and number 16 for Real?
There it is
We start with a live performance of the Champions League anthem, of course, sung by Katherine Jenkins over a video montage of moments from Champions League history.
Lots of familiar faces in there...Xavi, Zidane, Bellingham, Gerrard, etc etc. You can imagine it in your heads I'm sure.
And with that it's over to Pedro Pinto and Reshmin Chowdhury for some waffle.
The President's Award
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin takes to the stage to announce this year's President's Award recipient - the annual award given out for outstanding contributions to football.
Gianluigi Buffon is this year's recipient, as had been announced a few days ago.
The goalkeeper joins a list that also includes Paolo Maldini, Bobby Robson, Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Eric Cantona, David Beckham, and Didier Drogba - as well as the medical staff who saved Christian Eriksen's life in 2021.
Cristiano Ronaldo recognised
Cristiano Ronaldo is now hauled up on stage to receive an award recognising his standing as the Champions League's all-time leading goalscorer.
Ceferin has a little dig at the Portuguese for not playing in the competition anymore. Ho-ho-ho.
Ronaldo then reject Chowdhury's effort to tempt him into agreeing that the Champions League is the best club competition in the world, the slippery thing.
Here it comes...but first...
The draw is coming shortly, but first we have a 'hilarious' skit featuring Buffon expressing his bafflement about the new tournament format to Ceferin.
You're better than this, Gigi. Rip that award right out of his hands. He's ruined it.
Still better than United Passions, though.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic turns up and calls the script 'terrible'. Hero.
Filling for time, Chowdhury marvels over the acting abilities on show. Alright.
As part of that skit, by the way, Ceferin said they want less corporate rubbish and more football. Yes, really giving us that here today.
OK, here we go
While they give us yet more yadda yadda yadda, a reminder how it works: one team drawn at a time, then the computer gives us their eight opponents.
Two opponents from each pot. No opponents from the same country. Maximum of two from any one country.
We'll give you each of them in turn right here.
First out the hat...Manchester City
Buffon first plucks out Manchester City.
Ronaldo presses a button, and the computer duly spits out:
Inter (h)
PSG (a)
Brugge (h)
Juventus (a)
Feyenoord (h)
Sporting (a)
Sparta Prague (h)
Slovan Bratislava (a)
Inter out next
Their eight games:
Leipzig (h)
Man City (a)
Arsenal (h)
Leverkusen (a)
Red Star (h)
Young Boys (a)
Monaco (h)
Sparta Prague (a)
Bayern Munich's draw
PSG (h)
Barcelona (a)
Benfica (h)
Shakhtar (a)
Dinamo (h)
Feyenoord (a)
Slovan Bratislava (h)
Aston Villa (a)
RB Leipzig have...
Liverpool
Inter
Juventus
Atletico Madrid
Sporting
Celtic
Aston Villa
Sturm Graz
For Borussia Dortmund
Barcelona
Real Madrid
Shakhtar
Brugge
Celtic
Dinamo Zagreb
Sturm Graz
Bologna
Barcelona out next
Barca's eight opponents are:
Bayern (h)
Dortmund (a)
Atalanta (h)
Benfica (a)
Young Boys (h)
Red Star (a)
Brest (h)
Monaco (a)
Real Madrid out now
The holders will face:
Dortmund (h)
Liverpool (a)
Milan (h)
Atalanta (a)
Salzburg (h)
Lille (a)
Stuttgart (h)
Brest (a)
Nightmare draw for Liverpool
Oooft. Liverpool's draw:
Real Madrid (h)
Leipzig (a)
Leverkusen (h)
Milan (a)
Lille (h)
PSV (a)
Bologna (h)
Girona (a)
And finally from pot 1...PSG
Man City (h)
Bayern (a)
Atletico (h)
Arsenal (a)
PSV (h)
Red Bull Salzburg (a)
Girona (h)
Stuttgart (a)
First from pot 2...Atletico
RB Leipzig (h)
PSG (a)
Leverkusen (h)
Benfica (a)
Lille (h)
RB Salzburg (a)
Slovan Bratislava (h)
Sparta Prague (a)
For Atalanta...
Real Madrid (h)
Barcelona (a)
Arsenal (h)
Shakhtar (a)
Celtic (h)
Young Boys (a)
Sturm Graz (h)
Stuttgart (a)
Club Brugge drawn now
Cristiano Ronaldo looks thoroughly bored. Anyway, they get:
Dortmund (h)
Man City (a)
Juventus (h)
Milan (a)
Sporting (h)
Celtic (a)
Aston Villa (h)
Sturm Graz (a)
Bayer Leverkusen out now
The German champions get:
Inter (h)
Liverpool (a)
Milan (h)
Atletico Madrid (a)
RB Salzburg (h)
Feyenoord (a)
Sparta Prague (h)
Brest (a)
Arsenal drawn
They will face
PSG (h)
Inter (a)
Shakhtar (h)
Atalanta (a)
Dinamo Zagreb (h)
Sporting (a)
Monaco (h)
Girona (a)
Benfica's draw
Barcelona (h)
Bayern (a)
Atletico (h)
Juventus (a)
Feyenoord (h)
Red Star (a)
Bologna (h)
Monaco (a)
AC Milan out now
Liverpool (h)
Real Madrid (a)
Brugge (h)
Leverkusen (a)
Red Star (h)
Dinamo Zagreb (a)
Girona (h)
Slovan Bratislava (a)
Juventus drawn...
Man City (h)
Leipzig (a)
Benfica (h)
Brugge (a)
PSV (h)
Lille (a)
Stuttgart (h)
Aston Villa (a)
Finally from pot 2, Shakhtar
They take on:
Bayern (h)
Dortmund (a)
Atalanta (h)
Arsenal (a)
Young Boys (h)
PSV (a)
Brest (h)
Bologna (a)
Young Boys first from pot 3
The Swiss side take on:
Inter (h)
Barcelona (a)
Atalanta (h)
Shakhtar (a)
Red Star (h)
Celtic (a)
Aston Villa (h)
Stuttgart (a)
For Lille
Real Madrid (h)
Liverpool (a)
Juventus (h)
Atletico Madrid (a)
Feyenoord (h)
Sporting (a)
Sturm Graz (h)
Bologna (a)
PSV's opponents
Liverpool (h)
PSG (a)
Shakhtar (h)
Juventus (a)
Sporting (h)
Red Star (a)
Girona (h)
Brest (a)
For Feyenoord
Bayern (h)
Man City (a)
Leverkusen (h)
Benfivca (a)
Salzburg (h)
Lille (a)
Sparta Prague (h)
Girona (a)
Dinamo Zagreb will play
Dortmund (h)
Bayern (a)
Milan (h)
Arsenal (a)
Celtic (h)
RB Salzburg (a)
Monaco (h)
Slovan Bratislava (a)
Red Star take on
Barcelona (h)
Inter (a)
Benfica (h)
Milan (a)
PSV (h)
Young Boys (a)
Stuttgart (h)
Monaco (a)
Salzburg will take on
PSG (h)
Real Madrid (a)
Atletico (h)
Leverkusen (a)
Dinamo Zagreb (h)
Feyenoord (a)
Brest (h)
Sparta Prague (a)
Celtic drawn out
Leipzig (h)
Dortmund (a)
Brugge (h)
Atalanta (a)
Young Boys (h)
Dinamo Zagreb (a)
Slovan Bratislava (h)
Aston Villa (a)
For Sporting...
The Lisbon side take on:
Man City (h)
Leipzig (a)
Arsenal (h)
Brugge (a)
Lille (h)
PSV (a)
Bologna (h)
Sturm Graz (a)
Now onto pot 4, with...Stuttgart
PSG (h)
Real Madrid (a)
Atalanta (h)
Juventus (a)
Young Boys (h)
Red Star (a)
Sparta Prague (h)
Slovan Bratislava (a)
Girona will play...
Liverpool (h)
PSG (a)
Arsenal (h)
Milan (a)
Feyenoord (h)
PSV (a)
Slovan Bratislava (h)
Sturm Graz (a)
Bologna in their first CL campaign play...
Dortmund (h)
Liverpool (a)
Shakhtar (h)
Benfica (a)
Lille (h)
Sporting (a)
Monaco (h)
Aston Villa (a)
Another first timer, Brest
Real Madrid (h)
Barcelona (a)
Leverkusen (h)
Shakhtar (a)
PSV (h)
Salzburg (a)
Sturm Graz (h)
Sparta Prague (a)
Aston Villa next up
Bayern (h)
Leipzig (a)
Juventus (h)
Brugge (a)
Celtic (h)
Young Boys (a)
Bologna (h)
Monaco (a)
Sparta Prague take on...
Inter (h)
Man City (a)
Atletico (h)
Leverkusen (a)
Salzburg (h)
Feyenoord (a)
Brest (h)
Stuttgart (a)
For Slovan Bratislava...
Man City (h)
Bayern (a)
Milan (h)
Atletico Madrid (a)
Dinamo Zagreb (h)
Celtic (a)
Stuttgart (h)
Girona (a)
Monaco's eight fixtures
Barcelona (h)
Inter (a)
Benfica (h)
Arsenal (a)
Red Star (h)
Dinamo Zagreb (a)
Aston Villa (h)
Bologna (a)
And finally, Sturm Graz
Leipzig (h)
Dortmund (a)
Brugge (h)
Atalanta (a)
Sporting (h)
Lille (a)
Girona (h)
Brest (a)
And breathe
Well, that was unexpectedly intense - they really rattled through the last couple of pots there.
Let's recap the British sides' draws:
Arsenal: PSG (h), Inter (a), Shakhtar (h), Atalanta (a), Dinamo Zagreb (h), Sporting (a), Monaco (h), Girona (a)
Aston Villa: Bayern (h), Leipzig (a), Juventus (h), Brugge (a), Celtic (h), Young Boys (a), Bologna (h), Monaco (a)
Celtic: Leipzig (h), Dortmund (a), Brugge (h), Atalanta (a), Young Boys (h), Dinamo Zagreb (a), Slovan Bratislava (h), Aston Villa (a)
Liverpool: Real Madrid (h), Leipzig (a), Leverkusen (h), Milan (a), Lille (h), PSV (a), Bologna (h), Girona (a)
Man City: Inter (h), PSG (a), Brugge (h), Juventus (a), Feyenoord (h), Sporting (a), Sparta Prague (h), Slovan Bratislava (a)
Honking draw for Liverpool
If you plotted out the worst possible draw, you'd probably end up with something like what Liverpool got.
They will take on two sides they have faced in multiple European Cup and Champions League finals: Real Madrid and AC Milan.
RB Leipzig could have been worse, for a pot 1 side, but then they got Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen from pot 2 and Bologna and Girona from pot 4.
Not much easier for Arsenal
Arsenal also have Girona as one of their nominally 'easier' pot 4 sides, along with Monaco, while Atalanta are a very tough pot 2 brief.
Still, away trips to Spain, Portugal (Sporting), and two in Italy (Inter and Atalanta) should be a lovely time for those fans who are making the trips out.
Mixed bag for Aston Villa
Brugge, Monaco, Young Boys and RB Leipzig is not a bad selection of away games for Aston Villa, all things considered.
They've got it harder at Villa Park, though, with Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bologna and Celtic all set to visit Unai Emery's side.
Excited, Villa fans?
Man City should make it through
Pot 4 was kind to City, with Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava both coming out against City's name. They'll also fancy themselves to see off Club Brugge and Feynoord at home.
Trips to PSG, Juventus and Sporting are a bit tougher, as is hosting Inter (who they beat in the 2023 final)...but you'd expect Pep Guardiola would be relatively happy with that, all told.
Few big names for Celtic
Any Celtic fans hoping for the likes of Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and Bayern Munich to come to Celtic Park will be a bit disappointed.
Instead, they've got RB Leipzig, Club Brugge, Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava coming to Glasgow...which honestly all sound like cracking nights on the town, in fairness.
It's a bit more glamorous on their travels, though. Celtic will visit Dortmund, Atalanta and Aston Villa, as well as a trip to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb.
But the good news for Celtic is that their draw is actually relatively kind overall. Might they be able to reach the knockout stage of this competition for the first time since 2013?
Just to clarify
The order the games were drawn in is unlikely to be the order in which the games are played.
Instead the dates for each game are going to be announced on Saturday. That's because UEFA has to liaise with each member country's individual domestic leagues in order to organise the fixtures and avoid clashes such as the scheduling of multiple games in the same city on the same day.
We do know they'll fit in to the following dates though:
Matchday One: Sept. 17-19, 2024
Matchday Two: Oct. 1-2, 2024
Matchday Three: Oct. 22-23, 2024
Matchday Four: Nov. 5-6, 2024
Matchday Five: Nov. 26-27, 2024
Matchday Six: Dec. 10-11, 2024
Matchday Seven: Jan. 21-22, 2025
Matchday Eight: Jan. 29, 2025
Hope that helps.
That's it from us
We hope you had a wonderful time reading out 288 fixtures over the past couple of hours.
Plenty to look forward to in the Champions League in the season ahead, then, including games like Barcelona v Bayern Munich, PSG v Atletico, AC Milan v Real Madrid and the hipster's choice Sparta Prague v Red Bull Salzburg. (Do people still talk about hipsters, and if so why?)
We'll catch you next time!
