3 minute read
The UEFA Champions League is the elite competition in European club football, with the top sides battling it out every year to be crowned the best team on the continent.
Boasting many of the biggest club sides the world has to offer, the competition continues to provide magical moments that go down in sporting history.
Here's some key things you need to know about the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League campaign.
2024/25 UEFA Champions League how to watch
Australian viewers can watch all UEFA Champions League matches from the league phase onwards on Stan Sport.
2024/25 UEFA Champions League format
The UEFA Champions League has been revamped for the 2024/25 season with the competition bidding farewell to its old group stage.
UEFA Champions League history
The competition was first introduced ahead of the 1955/56 season, with Spanish giants Real Madrid winning the inaugural European Cup, beating French club Reims 4-3 in the final.
This competition remained in the same format for the following 36 years, with only the defending champions and winners of the previous season's domestic leagues eligible to play.
However, that all changed ahead of the 1992/93 season, as UEFA rebranded the competition, renaming it the UEFA Champions League and introducing a group stage rather than just the straight knockout format that had previously been applied.
The new-look tournament starting from the 2024/25 season will see the introduction of a 36-team league phase, before a standard 16-team knockout stage.
This season's contenders
Once again the big names will fancy their chances of claiming the biggest prize European football has to offer.
Real Madrid are the most successful team in the competition and are the reigning champions, so it would be foolish to rule Los Blancos out of the running.
The arrival of Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain is also set to give Real a significant lift, as the French striker joins an already star-studded squad.
Manchester City suffered defeat to Real in the semi-finals of last season having won the UEFA Champions League the previous year.
Expect Pep Guardiola's side to be in the mix come the business end of the competition, while fellow Premier League outfit Arsenal will also fancy their chances of going far in the tournament again this season.
PSG have been the nearly-men of this competition for so long and having said goodbye to the trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Mbappe in recent years, one wonders if the Ligue 1 giant's time has passed.
Italian sides should never be written off and Serie A champions Inter Milan will be ones to look out for.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are one of the most successful teams in the tournament's history and they too are serious contenders.
Bayer Leverkusen will also be looking to show they can mix it with the big boys after stunning Bayern to win a maiden Bundesliga crown last season.
With so many big teams and rising contenders, it looks set to be another thrilling UEFA Champions League season in 2024/25.
