UEFA has announced a historic change to the 2024-2025 Champions League draw.
For the first time, the competition will be held under a new format with 36 teams instead of 32, in a single-league system, with teams divided into four tiers.
Each team is expected to play eight matches, four at home and four away, with teams from the same country prohibited from meeting in the first round, and with a team facing a maximum of two teams from another country.
Due to the new system, it has become impossible to hold the Champions League draw using the old manual system, as it would take many hours.
UEFA has announced that the draw will be held automatically, a first in the history of the Champions League.
Starting from the round of 16, the traditional manual draw will return, as well as the quarter-final draw which determines the path to the final.
It is worth noting that the top eight teams in the group will qualify directly for the round of 16, while teams ranked 9 to 24 will play a two-legged playoff to determine the eight teams that will join the eight qualifiers in the second round.
It is also worth noting that the Asian Champions League for the elite is played in the same system but with a smaller number of clubs, and its draw was also held automatically last week.
