Manchester City UCL 2024-25 League Phase Draw: The league draw for the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 is in the history books. The event took place in Monaco yesterday, and all matches in the new ‘League Phase’ were announced. Today we will look at all the matches Manchester City will play in this round.
The format of the league has changed drastically this season. The first major change is that there are now 36 teams instead of 32, so the competition has naturally increased. More crucially, there will not be eight groups of four teams each, with every team playing one another twice in the group. Now, all 36 terms will be in one giant table.
Before the draw, all teams were divided into four pots based on their UEFA coefficient. Every team will play eight different teams in the league phase once. Four matches will be at home, while four will be away. Each team will face at least two teams from each pot, ensuring every team gets a varied level of competition.
The teams that finish in the top eight will make it to the round of 16. Whereas teams finishing 9th to 24th will go into an elimination phase, winners of which will then make it to the round of 16. The teams that finish 25th to 36th will be eliminated from the competition and will not fall into the Europa or the Conference Leagues.
Although all the matches and the Matchday dates for the league phase have been announced, the actual days on which any particular match will be played will be announced on August 31. This means that we do not know on which matchday these games will take place.
Having said that, these are the eight matches that Manchester City will play in the League Phase of the UEFA Champions League 2024/25; Manchester City UCL 2024-25 League Phase Draw.
Manchester City UCL 2024-25 League Phase Draw
1) Inter Milan (Home)
This is a rematch of the 2022/23 Champions League final; the season Man City won the championship for the first time in their history. Inter won the 2023/24 season of Serie A by a massive margin of 19 points. Still a massive power on the European stage despite getting eliminated in the round of 16 of the UCL last season, this will be one of the biggest matches of this season’s league phase. Inter Milan was in Pot One of the draw.
2) Paris Saint-Germain (Away)
Yet another blockbuster match; this is a contest between two state-owned teams. The difference is that while City has found European success, PSG is still to do so. Finally, the defending French champions moved away from having a team filled with superstars after selling Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid. Paris Saint-Germain was in Pot One of the draw.
3) Club Brugge (Home)
Club Brugge is a regular presence in the UCL. The current Belgian Pro League champions have won their domestic league on four occasions of the last five. And while they don’t usually proceed past the round of 16, the fact that they regularly not only make it to the UEFA Champions League but almost always win a few matches put Club Brugge in Pot Two of the draw.
4) Juventus (Away)
Juventus has suffered a massive downfall in the past few seasons. From making Serie A a ‘one-team league’ by winning it nine times in a row in the 2010s to even failing it to make it to the UCL last season after finishing seventh in 2022/23. This has pushed The Old Lady down to Pot Two of the draw. Despite that, this is a big match, seeing how Juventus has reached the final of the Champions League twice in the last decade, the same as Manchester City.
5) Feyenoord (Home)
This is Feyenoord’s second consecutive appearance in the UEFA Champions League after not making it to the competition for about 15 years. Last season, they finished second in the Eredivisie behind PSV to qualify for the UCL. Feyenoord was in Pot Three of the draw.
6) Sporting CP (Away)
The Portuguese giants have been UCL regulars but rarely make it past the group stage. Sporting CP wants the 2023/24 Liga Portugal to make its way to the Champions League. However, the fact that they either get eliminated in the Champions League group stage or just qualify for the Europa League put them in Pot Two of the draw.
7) Sparta Praha (Home)
This game, unfortunately for the defending Czech First League champions, will be one of the biggest David vs Goliath battles of this tournament. Manchester City, arguably the best and most valuable team in Europe, will take on Sparta Praha, which is one of the teams with the least valuable squads in this competition. Sparta Praha (Prague) was in Pot Four of the draw.
8) SK Slovan Bratislava (Away)
The journey of SK Slovan Bratislava to the UEFA Champions League is no less than a movie. The defending Slovak First Football League champions made it through five rounds of qualification to make their way into the UCL. They are one of the teams that profited from the league expanding to 36 teams. If Manchester City’s match vs Sparta Praha was an underdog story for the Czechs, this is the biggest David vs Goliath battle in this tournament, seeing how Bratislava has by far the least valuable squad in the competition. Hosting the Citizens at their stadium will be a big deal for SK Slovak Bratislava, who were in Pot Four of the draw.
These are all the games that Manchester City will play in the League Phase of the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 as they look to regain the title of European Champions once again.
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