When is the Champions League draw? This is the question that many football fans are asking as Europe's elite competition prepares to get underway for another season.
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) has undergone a revamp, with the number of teams competing in the tournament expanding from 32 to 36, and all entered into one big league phase as opposed to the traditional group stage we are used to.
Nonetheless, we have provided all of the key information that you will need ahead of the draw, and feel free to also follow our Champions League Predictions & Betting Tips as the last few teams try to qualify for the competition.
When is the Champions League draw?
UCL draw time
The UCL draw will start at 5pm UK time and will be held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, France.
Further key info
Who will be conducting the draw?
At the time of writing, it has not yet been confirmed who will conduct the draw in terms of the MC, an adjudicator, or special guests.
How is the draw done?
Balls representing the 36 teams will be hand drawn in order to determine their opponents, before a computer determines who will be drawn as the home and away teams. UEFA have made an impartiality promise to ensure that there is no bias from the computer when each group is drawn, as the nature of the draw could see some potentially top-heavy sets of fixtures, as teams draw two others from the pot that they are placed in as well as each other pot.
Given that Pot One is containing the 2023/24 UCL winners (Real Madrid) and most of the winners of the strongest domestic leagues from the previous season, in theory the strongest three teams from Pot One could all be drawn in the same fixture band, making for a potentially tougher route to the knockout phase. This has been seen as controversial to some fans, who may not have 100% faith in the computer determining each teams' opponents as opposed to the tradition of seeing each team being drawn from a ball with their own eyes.
What is the difference between ‘league phase’ and ‘group stage’?
A ‘league phase', as in the new format, groups all of the teams together into one league, while a ‘group stage' follows the more traditional format of a small number of teams being placed in a number of different groups. In the previous UCL seasons, this would have been eight groups of four teams, with the top two from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
In the new format, the 36 participating teams will be placed in one league, with the top eight teams at the end of it advancing automatically to the knockout phase. Teams who finish between ninth and 24th place will then face off in play-off games, with the eight winners also advancing to the knockouts. Teams who finish in 25th place or below will have no chance of advancing to the knockouts, nor will they continue their journey in the Europa League.
Is there a group of death?
As there are no groups, there cannot be a group of death. However, there could be an equivalent ‘fixture list of death', especially for lower-seeded teams, should they be unlucky enough to draw some of the highest-ranked teams from each pot.
