September 17 – AC Milan host Liverpool in the kick off the new season of the expanded Champions League format with 36 teams and two additional league-phase matches.
It will be the first of eight first-round matches for the Merseyside club. UEFA has replaced the 32-team group stage with eight groups of four with a 36-team league format. Each participant will play eight matches, against eight different opponents, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away.
The league phase is a dramatic departure from previous editions of the competition, with the aim of making every game meaningful and none of the dead-rubber group games that were becoming too common in the old format.
Last season, Real Madrid yet again won Europe’s premier club competition, defeating surprise package Borussia Dortmund in the final.
Carlo Ancelotti and his side open their campaign at home against Germany’s VFB Stuttgart. The Spanish capital club will among others face last season’s finalists Dortmund again, AC Milan, Liverpool and 2024 Europa League winners Atalanta.
On Wednesday, 2023 Champions League winners Manchester City debut against Inter Milan with blockbuster fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus to come. Arsenal kick off their campaign on Thursday with a trip to Atalanta. That day FC Barcelona travel to As Monaco.
The top eight sides in the league will claim a ticket to the round of 16, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a play-off to ensure progress to the next round. The league phase concludes on January 29 and every club is guaranteed of banking €18.6 million.
At the end of May, Munich will host the final. The last time the Allianz Arena hosted the showpiece match, Chelsea prevailed on penalties.
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