The draw for the Champions League League Phase took place on Thursday afternoon, with Arsenal learning all of their eight opponents for this round of the competition.
Each team face two opponents from Pot 1, two from Pot 2, two from Pot 3, and two from Pot 4, regardless of the pot they themselves are in. But for the record, Arsenal are a Pot 2 team this season.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at Arsenal’s draw.
Arsenal’s League Phase draw
The team at home is listed first below, the fixtures will not necessarily be in this order, with the calendar to be determined on Saturday.
- Arsenal vs Paris Saint-Germain
- Inter Milan vs Arsenal
- Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk
- Atalanta vs Arsenal
- Arsenal vs GNK Dinamo
- Sporting CP vs Arsenal
- Arsenal vs AS Monaco
- Girona vs Arsenal
What is the new Champions League format?
The new competition will begin with a “league stage”, with all 36 clubs ranked against each other in one big league table. The table will be determined by points, three points for a win and one for a draw.
Each club will play eight matches in the league stage, with four at home, and four away. But the matches will be against eight different teams, you’ll only play each opponent once.
After that, the competition will move to the knockout stages.
The teams finishing in the top eight in the league stage will progress directly to the round-of-16, whilst teams nine to 24 will enter a two-legged play-off round to try and join the top eight.
Teams finishing 25th or below in the league stage will be eliminated, and they won’t drop into the Europa League. The losers of the play-off round will also not drop into the Europa League.
From the round-of-16 onwards, the competition will play out as it normally does, with two-legged knockout ties until the single-leg final.
The knockout stages will be partially seeded, with your league finish giving you an easier path against worse opponents if you finished higher in the league table. But there will still be a seeded draw to determine your exact opponents.
When will the matches be played?
League Stage
Arsenal will play one match on each of the eight league stage matchdays, listed below. The exact details of all the fixtures will be confirmed on Saturday, 31st August.
- Matchday 1: 17–19 September 2024
- Matchday 2: 1/2 October 2024
- Matchday 3: 22/23 October 2024
- Matchday 4: 5/6 November 2024
- Matchday 5: 26/27 November 2024
- Matchday 6: 10/11 December 2024
- Matchday 7: 21/22 January 2025
- Matchday 8: 29 January 2025
Knockout Stage
If Arsenal finish 1st-8th in the league stage, they’ll then jump to the round-of-16. If they finish 9th-24th, they’ll play in the knockout round play-offs, giving the team an extra two games in February.
If they finish 25th-36th, their participation in European competition will end on January 29th.
- Knockout round play-offs: 11/12 & 18/19 February 2025
- Round-of-16: 4/5 & 11/12 March 2025
- Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April 2025
- Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May 2025
- Final: 31 May 2025
