In light of the new tournament system, UEFA has officially announced a radical change to the Champions League draw for the 2024-2025 season. UEFA has introduced a new system for the most important club football tournament, where starting from the next season, 36 teams will participate instead of 24. They will not be divided into 8 groups as usual; instead, the first round will be played in a league format with single matches.
The new system dictates that each team will face 8 opponents determined by a directed draw, maintaining previous regulations, notably that no two teams from the same country will meet at this stage of the tournament. Each team will play half of these matches at home and the other half away, and then, based on rankings, the top 8 teams will advance to the Round of 16. Teams ranked 9th to 24th will play knockout matches against each other, with the winners qualifying for the Round of 16 alongside the top 8 teams, after which elimination rounds will continue until the final match, while teams ranked 29th to 36th will exit the Champions League.
This large number of teams has led to a fundamental change in the draw system, as the usual method of drawing balls, which often sparked controversy over "cold" and "hot" balls indicating specific directions for the draw, will no longer be used. Instead, the draw will be conducted automatically.
UEFA clarified on its official website that applying the old system would require nearly a thousand balls and at least 36 containers on stage. Therefore, all 36 teams will be drawn manually using the balls, after which an automated program will randomly select 8 opponents for each team as well as determine the 4 matches played at home and the 4 matches away, with all this being displayed on screens in the draw hall and on television.
