Manchester City’s eight opponents for the group stage of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League have been revealed.
UEFA Champions League’s new format
The UEFA committee has introduced a new format for the Champions League starting from this edition, marking a significant shift from the traditional group stage structure. Instead of the usual eight groups of four teams, the competition will now feature a 36-team league stage, expanding the tournament from 32 to 36 teams.
In this new format, the 36 teams are divided into four pots of nine, based on their UEFA club coefficient rankings. Each team is then drawn to face two different opponents from each of the four pots, with one match played at home and the other away. This means that every club will participate in eight games during the league phase—four at home and four away.
The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while those that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from all European competition. The teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure their spot in the round of 16.
Man City to face Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, and Inter Milan
Manchester City, who have been placed in Pot 1, are gearing up for an exciting and challenging Champions League campaign. The draw has pitted them against formidable opponents such as Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, and Inter Milan.
City will host Italian champions Inter Milan at the Etihad Stadium and will travel to France and Italy to face PSG and Juventus respectively. These three teams will be City’s toughest opponents in the league phase, with each one of them having won their respective league titles more than 12 times.
Manchester City have only one Champions League title to their name, which they won in 2023 by defeating Inter Milan in the final held in Istanbul. This victory ended their long pursuit of European silverware following years of domestic dominance. With rumours suggesting that this could be Pep Guardiola’s final season at the helm, the team will be highly motivated to double their Champions League silverware.
Manchester City’s league phase opponents for the 24/25 UCL
The exact order of matches, dates and kick-off times will be announced on Saturday.
Opponent One: Inter Milan (Home)
Opponent Two: Paris Saint-Germain (Away)
Opponent Three: Club Brugge (Home)
Opponent Four: Juventus (Away)
Opponent Five: Feyenoord (Home)
Opponent Six: Sporting Lisbon (Away)
Opponent Seven: Sparta Praha (Home)
Opponent Eight: Slovan Bratislava (Away)