Champions League is the most prestigious competition in Europe. Winning it does not just give you bragging rights over your cross-town rivals or even your national league; it crowns you as the king of the entire UEFA club system. It is a tournament where legends are born, such as Johan Cruyff with Ajax winning three back to back European Championships in the 1970’s, or more recently Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi with Real Madrid becoming a dominant force in the last decade or so.

During the league phase, teams are ranked in four seeding pots based on their UEFA coefficient. The top four in each group will qualify directly to the knockout phase, while the next two highest placed clubs in each group will compete in a play-off round against teams from lower-ranked associations.

In the knockout phase, all ties are played over two legs. Teams ranked one and two will play their second leg at home, while teams ranked third and fourth will face each other away.

UEFA has decided to make some changes for the 2024-25 season, most notably removing the current group stage and replacing it with a new league-based format which will see 36 clubs compete in a single knockout phase – with all games taking place during midweek. In order to encourage a stronger synergy between the league and knockout phases, the pairings in the latter will be partly determined by the league phase rankings.