The Champions League returns: Your guide to its new format, storylines, tactics and how to watch

This season will bring us a Champions League like none we’ve seen before.

In the competition’s new “one big league” format, holders Real Madrid will be looking to add to their 15 titles but it will be a different challenge to any of those previous years.

There is a full explainer below on the revamped format, but in brief: there is an increase from 32 to 36 competing clubs and from 125 to 189 total matches (eight each in the first phase, rather than six), with the final league games all being played simultaneously on Wednesday, January 29.

To ensure you don’t miss anything, The Athletic has compiled a guide to the matches to watch, the players and tactics to follow and the TV schedule for easy viewing. Plus, we show how The Athletic app and website can act as a second screen, with live coverage and in-game player and team data while you watch all the on-pitch action unfold.

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Follow the Champions League on The Athletic

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First, a reminder on the new format…

In the previous version of the Champions League, the 32 competing clubs were split into eight groups of four for the first phase, but the new-look system is a single league table of 36 teams.

During this ‘league phase’ between now and the end of January, those clubs will each play eight matches (four at home, four away) against eight different opponents to determine their final league ranking, rather than six, home and away against three group opponents, as in the previous iteration.

Where the top two from the eight groups progressed to the knockout rounds in the past, now it will be the top eight finishers in the league table who automatically advance. Those placed ninth to 24th in the final standings will compete in eight qualification play-offs (two-leg, home-and-away ties) in February to make up the rest of the last 16. Everyone else is out of Europe for the season — adios, Europa League safety net.

For further details, The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon has written a full explanation of the changes. And if a visual is helpful, then here you go…

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Five storylines to follow this season

The Mbappes

Kylian Mbappe has moved from a club desperate to win their first Champions League (Paris Saint-Germain, widely known as PSG) to the competition’s serial winners (Real Madrid). PSG went through five managers during Mbappe’s seven seasons there, and not even teaming him with Lionel Messi and Neymar could get them over the line. But the 25-year-old France forward should have more success with the holders and 15-time winners than he did in Paris. It helps that he is going to be playing with Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Endrick and Luka Modric.

You can also look out for Kylian’s 17-year-old brother, Ethan Mbappe, a midfielder who also left PSG in the summer and will be featuring for fellow French side Lille. The siblings could come up against each other in the competition’s second gameweek, October 2, when Madrid go to the Pierre Mauroy Stadium.

Slot leads Liverpool’s return

Arne Slot had his first hiccup as Liverpool manager on Saturday. His tenure had begun with three straight wins but that perfect start was ended by a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest. In the summer, Slot succeeded Jurgen Klopp, who took Liverpool to three Champions League finals in his eight full seasons, including one title in 2019. Liverpool are back in the Champions League after playing Europa League football last season, where they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Atalanta of Italy, the competition’s eventual winners, in the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere from the Premier League, being able to compete so well with Manchester City domestically should mean being one of the best teams in Europe, but Champions League glory continues to elude Arsenal. So far, all manager Mikel Arteta has to show for the side’s sustained progress under him in recent years is winning the 2019-20 FA Cup final. After a decent return to Europe’s top competition last season, getting to the quarter-finals, could this be Arsenal’s year?

Leverkusen step up

Bayer Leverkusen earned their Champions League spot by winning the German title with an unbeaten 34-game league season. Their loss to Atalanta in the Europa League final was their only defeat of 2023-24 in 53 matches.

Now head coach Xabi Alonso, who was in his first full season of senior management, has the opportunity to show his tactical nous against the continental heavyweights. Their eight-game schedule includes a much-anticipated return to Liverpool for Alonso, who played for them from 2004-09 (helping win the 2004-05 Champions League) before being heavily linked with the manager’s job after Klopp announced last season he’d be stepping down this summer.

Their Bundesliga counterparts, Bayern Munich, have history on their side as six-time European champions. England captain and long-time Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane once again failed to win a trophy in his 2023-24 debut season in Bavaria, but the 31-year-old — who scored a hat-trick on Saturday in a 6-1 win over Holstein Kiel — now has reinforcements in winger Michael Olise (from Crystal Palace) and midfielder Joao Palhinha (from Fulham), who were both signed over the summer.

The new teams and the return of former champions

European Cup (now Champions League) winners in 1981-82, Aston Villa of the Premier League are back in the continent’s blue-riband club competition for the first time since they were defending champions the following season, and are led by four-time Europa League-winning manager Unai Emery.

In terms of genuine debuts, Spanish side Girona, part of the City Football Group stable headed by Manchester City, will make their very first Champions League appearance. A second-division club two years ago, they finished behind only Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga last season. Look out for Viktor Tsygankov, who had eight goals and seven assists in La Liga 2023-24.

French club Brest are completely new to any of the UEFA competitions, having finished third in Ligue 1 last season under manager (and former Sunderland player) Eric Roy. They went bust in the early 1990s, just as the Champions League era was beginning, and had to start again at amateur level.

This is the first time Bologna have been in the European Cup/Champions League since losing in the preliminary round in 1964-65. They benefited from Italy’s strong UEFA coefficient ranking, determined by performances of clubs from each country in the three European competitions last season, to secure their maiden Champions League qualification following a fifth-place Serie A finish under coach Thiago Motta. He has since departed to manage Juventus, replaced by Vincenzo Italiano, who contributed to that strong Italian coefficient ranking by leading Fiorentina to the Europa Conference League final for the second year in a row.

More (or fewer) exciting match-ups?

The new “one big league” format has less jeopardy than the previous Champions League group stage. For example, last year’s Group F contained AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, PSG and Newcastle, with at least two of them guaranteed to miss the competition’s knockout phase, adding to the stakes when they met. In the end, Dortmund and PSG progressed to the round of 16, while only Newcastle went out of Europe entirely.

Manchester United finished bottom of their group via a loss to Bayern in their sixth and last game, but under the new format would have had two more matches to win more points and get themselves back into contention. In the new format, 12 of the 36 sides (33 per cent) are eliminated before the knockout rounds, with 16 of the other 24 entering play-offs. This is down from 16 of 32 teams (50 per cent) going out immediately in the old one (albeit eight of those dropped into the knockout phase of the Europa League).

Some of the league-phase matches are mouthwatering, including Manchester City at home to Inter Milan and visiting Juventus and PSG, and Liverpool hosting Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen and playing AC Milan at San Siro, but might witnessing clashes like these in the competition’s opening stage devalue the knockouts when they start in the early spring?

We will have to see.

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Five players to watch

Julian Alvarez, Atletico Madrid

The 24-year-old Argentina international joined Atletico Madrid from Manchester City in a deal worth up to €95million (£80m/$105m) over the summer, so he will be expected to deliver, as he did this weekend scoring his first La Liga goal in a 3-0 win over Valencia. He comes up against visitors RB Leipzig of Germany in their opening match on Thursday, and can also look forward to league-phase games against PSG and Leverkusen.

Viktor Gyokeres, Sporting Lisbon

Striker Gyokeres will play in the Champions League for the first time, 15 months after he was in English football’s second-tier Championship with Coventry City. He then scored 29 goals in 33 league games in his first season in Portugal with Sporting, adding five more in the Europa League before they lost to eventual winners Atalanta 3-2 on aggregate in the round of 16. The 26-year-old Sweden international is set to face France’s Lille at home on Tuesday before visits from Manchester City and Arsenal later in the league phase.

Odilon Kossounou, Atalanta

Centre-back Kossounou will be tasked with stopping an array of forward talent in Atalanta’s eight matches. The 23-year-old has joined the Italians on an initial loan after starting 21 league games for Leverkusen as they won the Bundesliga last season. His first test is at home against Arsenal on Thursday, before other big games follow against Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Jeremie Frimpong, Bayer Leverkusen 

The Manchester City academy graduate, now 23, scored three goals and made two for team-mates in 10 Europa League appearances (six starts) last season as Leverkusen got to the final. In this step up from UEFA’s second-tier club competition, Frimpong is set to find himself playing both the Milan sides, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid after kicking off away to Feyenoord of the Netherlands this week.

Angel Gomes, Lille

At 24 years old, Manchester United academy graduate Gomes was handed his England debut by interim head coach Lee Carsley this month, having been largely forgotten about in Premier League circles after moving abroad in summer 2020. The midfielder will again take to the big stage, this time at club level, after contributing eight assists as Lille finished fourth in Ligue 1 in 2023-24, first facing Sporting Lisbon away on Tuesday and later both Madrid sides, Juventus and Liverpool.

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What games should I look out for this week?

Tuesday: AC Milan vs Liverpool

Liverpool face Milan at San Siro for the first time since December 2021, when Jurgen Klopp’s much-changed side won 2-1 in a dead-rubber game after they had already secured top spot in their Champions League group.

Milan’s threat remains largely the same as that night almost three years ago: the searing pace and trickery of Rafael Leao — supported by the marauding Theo Hernandez — will often play a key part in what they do well going forward.

Looking back at Milan’s last competitive game at Anfield, a 3-2 loss earlier that season, their approach was clear when looking at their share of attacking touches — channel the left side with combinations from their dynamic duo, and target Liverpool’s weaker defensive flank.

Although Milan have had a slow start to the season in Serie A — their 4-0 win over Venezia on Saturday came after failing to win their opening three games — Trent Alexander-Arnold will still have his work cut out on Liverpool’s right flank. If Leao and Hernandez click into gear, it can be difficult to stop them.

Wednesday: Manchester City vs Inter Milan

Given they played each other in the Champions League final less than 18 months ago, City and Inter will have plenty of intel on their opponents coming into this one.

You could argue Inter surprised City in that 2022-23 final, offering a greater threat than Pep Guardiola was comfortable with in the Premier League side’s narrow 1-0 win.

Coach Simone Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 formation will provide a stubborn low block for City when out of possession, but anyone who has watched Inter will know they are a flexible, versatile beast when they have the ball.

With positional rotations all over the pitch, it is difficult for opponents to consistently know where to mark their man. Looking at Inter’s recent victory over Lecce, for example, one of their attacking sequences saw left wing-back Federico Dimarco dart towards the near post and right centre-back Benjamin Pavard make an underlapping run into the penalty area, while central midfielder Nicolo Barella pulled wide to deliver a cross.

City arguably remain the best club side in the world, but don’t underestimate the strength and fluidity of the current Italian champions going forward.

Thursday: Atalanta vs Arsenal

Atalanta return to Champions League level for the first time since 2021-22 having won their first major European trophy in May, thumping Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final for the Germans’ only defeat all season.

Opponents Liverpool, Marseille and Leverkusen all arguably underestimated Atalanta in the final three knockout ties of that competition, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s side displayed a front-footed, aggressive man-to-man press that prevented their opponents from playing the football they desired.

Looking at that final in Dublin, Atalanta showed they did not need to dominate the ball to dominate the game, with 34 per cent possession being enough for them to score three times.

A frustrating start to the season saw Gasperini lose two of his opening three Serie A games but Atalanta won on Sunday and if they can impose their robust, clinical style on Thursday’s league-phase opener in the same way they did in matches last season, injury-depleted visitors Arsenal are in for a tough night.

Arsenal could be without captain Martin Odegaard after the ankle injury he suffered on international duty with Norway, with manager Arteta saying “we have to wait and see” after their 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Mark Carey

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How can I follow all the action on The Athletic?

For all the Champions League matches this season, you can follow events with The Athletic app and website, which will feature live in-game stats (see below), tables, fixtures and schedules, as well as match briefings after major games.

We can act as your second screen while you watch the matches, or help if you need to keep up to date while on the move. As well as live blogs and discussions with fellow fans, our coverage features a variety of team and player stats. You can also put forward your thoughts in the discuss tab before and during play.

In the match centre, you can find top performers during the games based on individual metrics such as chances created and shots on target, and find news related to your fixture of interest.

Here’s an example of our coverage during last season’s Champions League final.

 

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Where can I watch the matches?

CBS Sports and Paramount+ are the exclusive English-language rights holders in the United States. In the United Kingdom, rights are split between TNT Sports (also available on discovery+ Premium) and Amazon Prime, which this season has the best selection of the Tuesday night fixtures. Amazon has secured 17 Champions League matches, including the semi-finals, which take place in May 2025. Prime members in the UK will be able to watch on Prime Video at no additional cost.

Also in the UK, the BBC will show Champions League highlights for the first time on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and via the BBC Sport website and app. There will also be a new Champions League edition of Match of the Day on the BBC on Wednesday nights.

Below is a full listing of what to watch and where this week: (all UK listings on TNT Sports unless stated; all U.S. listings on Paramount +)

Tuesday, September 17

Juventus vs PSV Eindhoven, 12.45 ET/17.45 BST
Young Boys vs Aston Villa, 12.45 ET /17.45 BST
AC Milan vs Liverpool, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST (UK: Amazon Prime)
Bayern Munich vs Dinamo Zagreb, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST
Real Madrid vs Stuttgart, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST
Sporting Lisbon vs Lille, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST

Wednesday, September 18

Bologna vs Shakhtar Donetsk, 12.45 ET/17.45 BST
Sparta Prague vs Red Bull Salzburg,12.45 ET/17.45 BST
Celtic vs Slovan Bratislava, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST
Manchester City vs Inter Milan, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST
Paris Saint-Germain vs Girona, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST

Thursday, September 19

Red Star Belgrade vs Benfica, 12.45 ET/17.45 BST
Feyenoord vs Bayer Leverkusen, 12.45 ET/17.45 BST
Atalanta vs Arsenal, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST
Atletico Madrid vs RB Leipzig, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST
Brest vs Sturm Graz, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST
Monaco vs Barcelona, 15.00 ET/20.00 BST

(Top photos: Getty Images)