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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2023/24

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FC Bayern München UEFA Champions League 2023/24

6 fc bayern münchen bayern.

• W Bayern 3 - 0 Lazio Tue 5 Mar
• D Arsenal 2 - 2 Bayern Tue 9 Apr
• W Bayern 1 - 0 Arsenal Wed 17 Apr
• D Bayern 2 - 2 Real Madrid Tue 30 Apr
• L Real Madrid 2 - 1 Bayern Wed 8 May

FC Bayern München  

Bayern Munich on tour in Asia: dates, matches, details

Bayern Munich were in Asia from July 24 to August 3. Thomas Tuchel's side took in Tokyo and Singapore as they played friendlies against Manchester City, Kawasaki Frontale and FC Liverpool.

Which Bayern stars are you choosing for your fantasy team?

July 24: Asian tour begins with the Audi Football Summit in Tokyo.

July 26: 1-2 vs. Champions League winners Manchester City at Tokyo National Stadium

July 29: 1-0 vs. Kawasaki Frontale at the National Stadium in Tokyo

July 30: Onward journey to Singapore

August 2:  4-3 vs. Liverpool FC in the Singapore Trophy at Singapore National Stadium

August 3: Departure

Watch: Bayern in Singapore

Victory in the seven-goal thriller against Liverpool

Bayern's final match in Asia before returning to Germany to take on Monaco in Unterhaching was a fine 4-3 win over Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool at Singapore's National Stadium.

The Premier League side had raced into a 2-0 lead through Cody Gakpo (2') and Virgil van Dijk (28'), but the Bundesliga champions responded before the first half was out, with Serge Gnabry pulling one back (33') before setting up Leroy Sane for the equaliser (42').

Luis Diaz (66') and Josip Stanisic (80') then exchanged goals, before academy graduate Frans Krätzig settled the game with a stunning first-time effort in injury-time (90'+1).

How Bayern lined up: Sommer (Ulreich 46') - Pavard (Mazraoui 61'), Upamecano (Stanisic 61'), Kim (De Ligt 46'), Davies (Krätzig 61') - Kimmich (Pavlovic 69'), Laimer (Goretzka 61') - Sane (Coman 46'), Musiala (Gravenberch 61'), Gnabry (Ibrahimovic 61') - Tel (Sarr 69') Unused subs: Hülsmann, Tikvic Out: Choupo-Moting (knee), Guerreiro (calf), Müller (hip), Neuer (broken leg) Watch : Highlights of Bayern's win over Liverpool

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Press conference with tuchel and de ligt ahead of liverpool game.

Bayern head coach Thomas Tuchel was enjoying his surroundings ahead of the Bavarian's meeting with Liverpool in Singapore.

"It's my third time here, the view's impressive," he said. "We had dinner with the staff. It's a nice, clean and very well-organised city. They're very friendly people who always want to help. We accept the weather conditions, they're not an excuse. It's a peaceful, clean city."

Central defender Matthijs de Ligt was also happy about the new training location, especially because of the slightly higher temperatures: "We trained here for the first time yesterday," he said. "It was extremely hot in Japan, the sun shone all day. It was a bit cooler yesterday. We're trying to train as best we can and get the best out of it." 

The trip to Asia can be the first step on a long journey towards the Champions League title, explained Tuchel: "We're at a club where it's all about winning titles. It doesn't matter what your goal is, you have to start the journey and then take it step by step. You also need luck, then everything's possible. There's no point in talking too much about the dream. We have to keep growing together, develop a team spirit."

Watch: Bayern's arrival in Asia

Bayern welcomed to Singapore

Bayern arrived at their second destination on this year's Audi Summer Tour after a five-day stay in Tokyo.

The departure from Japan was delayed due to inclement weather, which is why the Bavarians landed almost two hours late. An enthusiastic welcome nonetheless awaited the team at the hotel, with swathes of fans there to greet the players. Joshua Kimmich and Co. signed autographs and took selfies.

Watch: Kawasaki/Bayern fan crossover

Kim and De Ligt - Bayern's new dream duo?

All eyes were on new signing Kim Min-jae in the 1-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale. The former Napoli man spoke about his debut after the game and was quite self-critical: "I always tried to make the game easy, but I also made a few mistakes. The team is new, the tactics are different - I need to find my way around now."

De Ligt, the player many expect will be Kim's regular central defensive partner, is helping him settle in: "I've only been with the team for a short time and am trying to adapt as quickly as possible and get to know my teammates," Kim continued. "Matthijs de Ligt is helping me a lot with that. We talk to each other a lot and get along well."

Now that Kim has played his first game, the focus is on the start of the season and the work to be done until then: "I felt at the beginning that it wasn't easy because it's a new environment and I'm not in top form yet. I want to keep working hard to get in my best shape."

Victory over Kawasaki Frontale

Bayern rebounded from their narrow feat to continental treble winners Manchester City with a 1-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

Kim Min-jae made his debut for the record German champions in front of 45,289 fans, lining up alongside Benjamin Pavard in central defence in the first half, and enjoying a 100 per cent success rate in his duels. In an exciting first half, Mathys Tel also had a number of chances but it was goalless at the break.

Thomas Tuchel made nine changes at the break, with only Tel and goalkeeper Yann Sommer staying on the field. Josip Stanisic scored what proved to be the winning goal (57'), converting after a smart one-two with Ryan Gravenberch.

How Bayern lined up: Sommer - Mazraoui (Stanisic 46'), Pavard (De Ligt 46'), Kim (Upamecano 46'), Davies (Krätzig 46') - Kimmich (Goretzka 46'), Laimer (Gravenberch 46') - Sane (Sarr 46'), Musiala (Pavlovic 46'), Gnabry (Coman 46') - Tel (Ibrahimovic 61') Unused subs:  Hülsmann, Tikvic Out:  Buchmann (fitness), Choupo-Moting (knee), Raphael Guerreiro (knee), Müller (knee), Neuer (knee), Tillman (fitness)

Watch: Highlights of Bayern's victory over Kawasaki Frontale

Tuchel praises Kim

Before the friendly against Kawasaki Frontale on 29 July, Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel praised his new central defender Kim Min-jae: "Min-jae brings a lot of quality to our squad. He can play on both sides in central defence. That gives us stability and versatility. He will play tomorrow. We hope that Matthijs de Ligt will come back too, then we have two new options." 

Meanwhile, Mathys Tel has caught a small infection and is questionable for the next game. "We have to see if it's enough. He's doing well, accelerating in training, being part of the group and fighting for his place," said Tuchel.

Serge Gnabry expressed his delight at being able to explore Japan, meanwhile: "I've wanted to come to Japan for a few years to learn about the culture. I've had a very cool time here. I've been able to train at Kawasaki, a big thanks to the club that it worked, it helped me a lot. I really liked Tokyo, I will definitely come back."

Test match defeat against Man City

Bayern lost their first friendly on the Asian tour 2-1 against Manchester City. James McAtee (22') and Mathys Tel (82') exchanged goals before Aymeric Laporte scored the winner (86') for the recent English and European champions in front of 65,049 fans in Tokyo's National Stadium.

How Bayern lined up: Sommer (Ulreich 46') - Mazraoui (Sarr 46'), Pavard (Stanisic 46'), Upamecano (Tikvic 46'), Davies (Krätzig 46') - Kimmich (c) (Goretzka 46'), Laimer (Gravenberch 46') - Coman (Wanner 46'), Musiala (Vidovic 46'), Sane (Mane 46') - Gnabry (Tel 46') Unused subs:  Hülsmann, Pavlovic, Ibrahimovic Out:  Guerreiro (calf), Müller (hip)

Watch: Highlights of Bayern's narrow defeat to Man City

Reception by the governor of Tokyo

A great honour for Bayern: As part of this year's Audi Summer Tour, the record German champions received an invitation from the governor of Tokyo Prefecture. Bayern president Herbert Hainer and vice president Professor Dr. Dieter Mayer presented Yuriko Koike with a jersey and she wished the club a successful stay in Japan. "Football is very popular here, especially among young people," she said, praising Bayern's commitment to promoting talent. On learning that Bayern had won the Bundesliga 11 times in a row she said "Bayern must be invincible."

Bayern's squad for their Asian tour

Goalkeepers: Sven Ulreich, Yann Sommer, Tom Ritzy Hülsmann

Defenders: Dayot Upamecano, Min-Jae Kim, Matthijs de Ligt, Benjamin Pavard, Alphonso Davies, Bouna Sarr, Noussair Mazraoui, Frans Krätzig, Josip Stanisic, Antonio Tikvic

Midfielders/Forwards: Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman, Paul Wanner, Konrad Laimer, Gabriel Vidovic, Ryan Gravenberch, Mathys Tel, Jamal Musiala, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Arijon Ibrahimović

Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Raphael Guerreiro, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (knee problems), Malik Tillman and Tarek Buchmann (both in advanced training) did not travel.

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Ticketing information: Arsenal v FC Bayern Munich

Ticketing information for our UEFA Champions League Quarter Final fixture against FC Bayern Munich, which will take place at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday 9th April at 8pm.

This will be a Category A fixture ( pricing  and information on  match categorisation ).

Please note this fixture is included as part of the Platinum Season Ticket as are all Men's competitive home fixtures at the Emirates Stadium.

Important Information

Due to security requirements, this fixture has an embargo in place for Arsenal members who signed up after 11th March 2024. Members who register for the ballot but became an Arsenal member after the 11th March 2024, are not eligible to apply for tickets and will not be included in the ballot for this match. Any applicants who are not eligible due to the embargo will be removed along with their ballot group.

In addition, Season Ticket Holders are only permitted to transfer tickets via the Ticket Transfer service to a recipient whose account was created on or before the 11th March 2024 for this game. Tickets forwarded to supporters whose accounts were created after this date will not be able to accept the transfer, and the transfer will be cancelled.  There is additional risk associated with this game because FC Bayern Munich are not permitted an away allocation. To avoid tickets ending up in possession of away supporters, we encourage Season Ticket Holders who purchase their seat for this fixture and members who are successful in the ballot to attend the match themselves to make it a memorable night and create the best atmosphere for the team.

Any Season Ticket Holder (inclusive of Ticket Transfers) or Arsenal member’s seat found to be in possession of an away fan will be suspended indefinitely.

General Admission Season Ticket holders who are signed up to the 2023/24 Cup Scheme:

• Payment will be charged to their registered payment card on Tuesday 19th March. 
• Supporters whose payment fails will automatically be given the chance to purchase their own seat in the priority window as detailed below.
• No booking fee applies to the Cup Scheme. 

Season Ticket Holder Priority Window

General Admission Season Ticket holders, along with those who have signed up to the 2023/24 Cup Scheme, but whose payment fails can purchase their seat for this fixture in the priority window. 

Information on how Season Ticket holders can buy their own seat can be found  here .

Season Ticket holders can purchase their own seat by logging into their Online Box Office account  here .

• Once logged in, supporters should click on the head and shoulder icon in the top right-hand corner of the page. 
• Under "Notification" their seat/s will be listed under 'Reserved Tickets'. 
• By clicking on reserved ticket, supporters can select their seat and any other seats they manage within their Network and add them to their basket for checkout and payment. 
• No booking fee will apply in the season ticket holder window.   

Once payment is confirmed, your digital pass will be activated for entry into the stadium for this fixture. Please note, digital passes will update approximately 7 days prior to the fixture. 

Ticket Ballot for Arsenal Members

To ensure fairness and equal opportunity, tickets for home fixtures will be sold via a ballot system exclusively for Arsenal members. For each match, members have a designated window in which to register either individually or as a group (provided that all members in the group meet the necessary requirements for the relevant ballot).

Timing does not matter when it comes to entering our ballots, whether you are an early bird or a last-minute entrant, your chances of winning remain the same. The only crucial factor is that you submit your entry whilst the window is open.

Please see our   how-to-buy guide

Arsenal membership is now closed for this season. If you would like to join as a new member for Season 2024/25 please provide your details using this link , and we will contact you via email when membership opens.

Updates to the Ticket Ballot

If you are an eligible member, you will be able to select up to two preferred price bands during the registration process for the Silver and Red Member ballots. You can also select to be balloted into any remaining areas if you are not successful in either of your preferred price bands. A choice of price bands will be offered for this Champions League fixture. 

Please Note: This fixture has an embargo in place for Arsenal members who signed up after 11th March 2024. Members who register for the ticket ballot but became an Arsenal member after the 11 March 2024, are not eligible to apply for tickets and will not be included in the ballot for this match and will be removed along with their ballot group.

Family Enclosure ballot

The family enclosure area will not be available for this match in Block 117 (Upper Tier) due to event requirements. Any Seasonal match tickets that are not purchased within the family enclosure areas will be used for match-by-match seating as an additional allocation for the family enclosure ballot.

The family enclosure is a designated seating area for Junior Gunner members and Senior Citizen members. To successfully purchase in the family enclosure ballot, Silver and Cannon Silver members must be accompanied by a Junior Gunner member with a maximum ratio of two adults to one Junior Gunner member. 

Please note: Junior Gunners members aged 13 and under must register into the ballot with an adult member aged 18 and over. Any ballot applications that do not meet these criteria will not be able to purchase.

Once the ballot process is complete, all applicants will be emailed regardless of the outcome. Successful applicants will have a  24-hour window  to purchase tickets specifically for the family enclosure area. It is important to complete the purchase within this time frame to secure your tickets in this area.

Adult Red and Cannon Red Members who attend with a Junior Gunner member will also be able to register for tickets in the family enclosure area during this period (One Adult Red/Cannon Red member per Junior Gunner member). Red Senior members may also apply. This service is  not  available through the regular family enclosure ballot, but via the link found above. Please note, Cannon Red members must be aged 18 or over to accompany a Junior Gunner member who is under the age of 14.

Silver and Red ballot

To participate in the ballot for both Silver and Red member tickets, we require you to authorise a payment card. If your application is successful, the payment card you provide will be automatically charged and tickets will be assigned to you. The ballot page when open will display a range of available prices for your reference. Please keep in mind that successful applicants may be assigned seats from any available areas and prices.

Once the ballot process is complete, both unsuccessful and successful applicants will be emailed. It is important to note that booking fees will be applied to this service. In cases where the number of ballot registrations for a match does not exceed the number of available tickets, all members who entered the ballot will be successful in obtaining tickets.

Important :

• If your payment card declines, your ballot application will be unsuccessful.

Useful links   

• Ballot  Guide
• Ballot  FAQs

Ticket Exchange & Ticket Transfer

If a member is unable to attend a match that they were successful in the ballot for and that match has sold out, they will have the option to post their ticket on our Ticket Exchange platform. This way other fans can purchase tickets and enjoy the match. This ticket information page will be updated once a fixture has sold out and the Ticket Exchange service is available.

The Ticket Transfer service is available will be availble for all Season Ticket holders both Platinum and those Gold Members who have purchased their seat via the Cup Scheme or General Admission Season Ticket priority window once the silver ballot has been concluded and Ticket Exchange is live.

As mentioned at the top of the page under important information:

Ticket Transfers can only be forwarded to a recipient whose account was created on or before the 11 March 2024 for this game. Tickets forwarded to supporters whose accounts were created after this date will not be able to accept the transfer, and the transfer will be cancelled. 

Both Ticket Exchange and Ticket Transfer services will close 3 hours prior to the match and recipients of tickets via the Ticket Transfer service must have accepted the ticket before this deadline. Please see more information for  Ticket Exchange   and   Ticket Transfer .

Digital tickets

Any tickets purchased by Arsenal members for the 2023/24 season will be loaded onto their Digital Membership Pass.

Members can download their Digital Pass from the official Arsenal app. Once the digital pass has been added to an Apple or Android wallet, any purchased tickets will automatically show on the digital pass approximately one week before the relevant fixture -  more information .

Any new members who purchase their membership close to a fixture, will be sent their tickets via an email attachment, in the event their digital pass is not yet available in the Arsenal app.

Any tickets accepted via the Ticket Transfer service will be sent to recipients via email.

Disability Access

Find out much more ticketing information for Disability Access members

Information on balloting for Disability Access will be available via our  Help Centre .

If you are purchasing tickets for other Arsenal members, please ensure that each additional member is assigned to your Network prior to your transaction ( how to manage your network ).

Children who are under 14 years of age must be accompanied and seated within reaching distance to an adult aged 18 or over when attending fixtures at the Emirates Stadium. Please note that any bookings for Junior Gunners members aged under 14 which do not meet  Safeguarding regulations   will result in the ticket in question being cancelled and a full refund issued.

My Arsenal Rewards

Silver, Red DA, Red and Cannon members can earn points for each ticket purchased. Please see the table below to see how many points you can earn for each match category ( more information ).

Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.

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Champions League: Real Madrid cap '10/10 season' with 15th title

LONDON -- Carlo Ancelotti said Real Madrid achieved a "10 out of 10" season after winning the Champions League for a record-extending 15th time with a 2-0 victory Saturday against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.

Real, who also won the LaLiga title in Spain, sealed their win against Dortmund with two goals late in the second half from Dani Carvajal and Vinícius Júnior .

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, NWSL more (U.S.)

The success was Ancelotti's fifth Champions League title as a manager -- another record -- and Real's Toni Kroos , Carvajal, Luka Modric and Nacho also joined club legend Paco Gento on six Champions League wins as players.

While Madrid emerged as European champions again, Dortmund were unlucky not to pull off a huge upset in London, the scene of their 2013 final defeat against Bayern Munich.

Edin Terzic's team dominated the first half, but Julian Brandt , Niclas Füllkrug and Karim Adeyemi all missed clear chances to open the scoring.

"[Dortmund] played better than us and had more chances than us, but they let us get away with 0-0 at half-time," Ancelotti said. "In the second half we had more balance, played better and managed to win the game.

"I think this season we had many, many troubles. We lost quality players and had to replace their ability with commitment.

"You need both sacrifice and quality to win Champions League, but this win makes me very satisfied because we never give up and always fight until the end.

"So I'd rate us as 10 out of 10 this season. This season has been 10/10. My players have been spectacular."

Having won the club's 15th Champions League, Ancelotti said that Real's attention will turn quickly to winning it for a 16th time next season.

"That's the way it is, that's how football is," he said. "What goes through my head? Everybody is waiting for winning a ninth [Champions League] final in a row and the danger of not winning it was real -- Dortmund were an uncomfortable rival for us.

"In this club, there is a continuous demand and we are never satisfied. After the Euros and Copa America, the players will come back with the same hunger and ambition as before.

"This competition has given me fantastic happiness, but the target is to try to get some happy emotion after this game. I have the luck to be at the best club in the world."

Germany international Füllkrug went closest to breaking the deadlock when he hit the post on 24 minutes.

Madrid struggled to get into the game, with former Dortmund star Jude Bellingham nullified by his old teammates.

But after weathering the first-half storm, Real settled down in the second period and eventually asserted their dominance before Carvajal and Vinícius scored the decisive goals.

"It was a very difficult game," Carvajal told Movistar. "In the first half we came out alive, they were quite a lot better. We knew our moment would come ... We knew how to suffer. That's football."

Ancelotti, meanwhile, paid tribute to midfielder Kroos, who played his final game in club football.

With Kroos retiring after Euro 2024, Ancelotti joked that Real are now waiting for him to change his mind.

"I'm really grateful to Kroos," he said. "He finished at the very top, there is no way to finish higher than this. He had the balls to finish [his career] and he is a legend at this club.

"All the fans are grateful to him for attitude, his professionalism. I've told him we are waiting for him to change his mind -- we are waiting for you.

"We have lost an important player, but we have players who can replace him, and we will adapt and play a slightly different way.

"We have fantastic players and the resources to remain competitive."

Bayern face uncertain future after Champions League exit

B ayern Munich's Champions League elimination at the hands of Real Madrid on Wednesday will kick-start a summer of soul-searching with the German giants facing an uncertain future.

Just 12 months away from hosting the Champions League final at their Allianz Arena home, Bayern will begin a summer rebuild without knowing who will be in the coaching dugout next season.

Dethroned as German champions for the first time in 11 years by Xabi Alonso's rampant Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern's Champions League run offered a sense of salvation for a club in a mire largely of their own making.

Bayern agreed to part ways with manager Thomas Tuchel in February after falling behind Leverkusen in the title race. Despite talk of a "mutual decision" Tuchel at the time said he would have preferred to stay in the role. 

While Tuchel's stock has since risen after taking Bayern to within minutes of a Champions League final, several candidates have already knocked back a chance to replace him as coach. 

Alonso, one-time mentor Julian Nagelsmann and former Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick have all reportedly declined Bayern's interest.

The last-minute elimination, headlined by referee frustrations and an uncharacteristic error by captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, means a first trophyless season since 2012.

A season without silverware is always an unthinkable outcome in Munich. But with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final and Leverkusen on course for a treble, Bayern have plenty to ponder. 

- 'A very painful defeat' -

Speaking at a gala dinner at a gourmet Madrid restaurant hours after the elimination, Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen spoke to players and club officials, including Tuchel and honourary president Uli Hoeness.

Dreesen acknowledged the "very painful defeat" but said the 2025 Champions League "home final is our big goal now!"

The former banker's speech, intended to cut through the disappointment in the room, was greeted with sporadic applause.

Hoeness, who has officially stepped down from club duties but remains Bayern's principal powerbroker, criticised Tuchel just a fortnight ago for his inability to develop junior players. 

"He doesn't think you can improve (Alphonso) Davies, (Aleksander) Pavlovic or (Jamal) Musiala. 

"He thinks if it doesn't work, you should just buy another one. I think you should work with them and give them confidence."

That all three played a starring role on Wednesday -- with Davies scoring Bayern's only goal and Munich local Pavlovic anchoring defensive midfield -- only serves to highlight Hoeness' misguided criticism. 

- 'I loved my time in England' -

Tuchel said Hoeness had "hurt his honour as a coach" but for Bayern the statements not only eroded any chance of holding onto Tuchel, but turned potential other targets away from the role. 

Tuchel had previously left the door ajar to staying at Bayern beyond the season, but said on Wednesday night "it's no secret that I loved my time in the Premier League with Chelsea and in England."

Bayern sporting director Max Eberl, in the job since March, faces several challenges on the pitch.

Alonso's decision to knock back Bayern as well as reported interest from Liverpool and Real means Leverkusen will again be a real threat next season. 

Dortmund may be fifth in the league this season but could go into the next campaign as Champions League winners. 

Several of Bayern's biggest stars, including Leon Goretzka, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry, are under performing, with their output not matching their weighty pay packets. 

Defenders Dayot Upamecano and Min-jae Kim, who cost a combined 92.5 million euros ($100 million), have largely ridden the bench in recent months, with Tottenham outcast Eric Dier preferred to partner Matthijs de Ligt at centre-back. 

The club's better performers are also on the wrong side of 30. Neuer, who impressed despite his mistake, is 38 and Thomas Mueller turns 35 this year. 

Harry Kane, undoubtedly Bayern's star this season with 44 goals in 45 games, will turn 31 in summer. 

The combined challenges means Bayern, trophyless and without a manager, face the biggest challenge to their hegemony in a generation.

What you need to know about Champions League 2024/2025

05 June 2024

A third place finish in the 2023/24 Serie A season sees Juventus return to Europe’s top continental competition, the UEFA Champions, after a year of absence, not due to our results on the pitch.

NEW CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FORMAT

How does the new Champions League work? As the UEFA website reports:

The main change in the reforms announced by the UEFA Executive Committee is the abandonment of the current group stage system. The current Champions League group stage has 32 participants divided into eight groups of four. From the 2024/25 season, however, 36 clubs will participate in the Champions League's championship phase (former group stage), giving four more teams the opportunity to play against Europe's top clubs. These 36 clubs will participate in a single league in which the league table will include all 36 teams.

According to the new format, teams will play eight matches in this new single-round phase (former group stage). They will no longer play twice against three opponents - home and away - but will face eight different teams, playing half of the matches at home and half away. To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be classified into four brackets. Each team will then be drawn to play against two opponents per bracket, playing one home and one away game against the two teams in that bracket.

The results of each match will decide the overall classification of the new league, with three points for a win and one for a draw.

The top eight teams from the league phase will automatically qualify for the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th will compete in knockout play-offs with return matches to fill the grid for the Round of 16. Teams ranked 25th and lower will be eliminated with no chance of entering the UEFA Europa League.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

This is the list of the 29 confirmed teams for next season’s competition, with the remaining seven to be decided after various qualifiers, to be held between July and August.

Italy: Inter Milan, Juventus, Atalanta, Milan, Bologna

Germany: Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund

Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Atlético Madrid

England: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa

France: PSG, Monaco, Brest

Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord

Portugal: Sporting, Benfica

Belgium: Bruges

Scotland: Celtic

Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk

Austria: Sturm Graz

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Fight for the Champions League’s future threatens an age of uncertainty in Europe

A love story. Florentino Perez called it a love story. Speaking to reporters on his way out of Wembley Stadium after Saturday’s Champions League final, the Real Madrid president sounded like a man in thrall to the mystique, the allure and the romance of a relationship that has spanned seven decades and so many special times.

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“It’s a magnificent night, because this competition is the one we like the most,” Perez said after Madrid, 2-0 winners over Borussia Dortmund , were crowned European champions for the 15th time. “It was created by Santiago Bernabeu (the club’s president from 1943 to 1978) along with L’Equipe newspaper, and it made us important in the world. Some (clubs) leave and others come, but this competition is very much ours.”

There is a beautiful story there: the all-conquering Madrid team that won the first five European Cups from 1956-60, inspired by Paco Gento, Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas; a sixth title in 1966, and then an unthinkable 32-year wait before three more around the turn of the century, won by a team illuminated by the homegrown Raul Gonzalez and embellished by the arrivals of Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane before the Perez-driven galacticos project lost its way; their re-emergence over the past decade with a side initially built around Cristiano Ronaldo and other A-list talents, but now extensively rebuilt around the young talent of Vinicius Junior , Rodrigo , Jude Bellingham and, coming soon, a bona fide galactico in Kylian Mbappe .

No club have contributed more to the game’s growth in the European Cup era. Equally, no club have grown more with the game. It is, on one level, a beautiful relationship, particularly when they are led by coaches such as Carlo Ancelotti and Zidane, whose personal history with the competition dates back to their illustrious playing careers.

But it is a strange kind of love story when Perez appears intent on killing the Champions League as we know it.

He has the European football landscape he dreamed of — a vast and enormously lucrative competition, so elitist that it now attracts talk of fairytales if the second-biggest club in Germany make it to the final — but it is still not enough. Nothing will ever be enough.

One way or another, European football is approaching a tipping point.

It has felt that way for several years now, as if the unprecedented financial advantages enjoyed by the biggest, richest, most powerful clubs in the biggest, richest, most powerful leagues just aren’t enough anymore.

Perez wants the European Cup to be replaced by a Super League . Why? “We are doing this to save football at this critical moment,” he told Spanish television show El Chiringuito around the time of the failed Super League launch in the spring of 2021. “If we continue with the Champions League, there is less and less interest, and then it’s over. The new format which starts in 2024 is absurd. In 2024, we are all dead.”

And now here we are in 2024. Perez is still pushing the Super League project, emboldened and encouraged by the outcome of the latest court case in Spain, and continuing to wage war on UEFA , the game’s governing body on this continent, which he has accused of running a “monopoly” on European football.

UEFA, for its part, has responded to the constant demands for more matches by introducing a new Champions League format from next season : the so-called “Swiss model”, where 36 teams will play eight games each, not in a group format but in a notional 36-team “league” from which 24 of them progress to the knockout phase. This is what Perez has described as “absurd”. And he might well be right.

It sounds… bloated, convoluted, unwieldy, all the things that European competition should not be. It looks like a forlorn, misguided attempt to go with the flow when what the game really needed was for UEFA to do the impossible by stemming and reversing the tide.

It is designed to placate the demands of the biggest, richest, most powerful clubs.

Some of us would say UEFA has acceded far too much over the past two decades in particular, creating a financial model that has created a chronic competitive imbalance between leagues and within leagues. Perez and others have already concluded next season’s reforms don’t go anything like far enough.

Sitting at Wembley on Saturday evening, soaking up the atmosphere created by their supporters, it felt like something of a throwback to see Dortmund in the final again. If it felt that way the previous time they got there, in 2013, when Jurgen Klopp characterised them as a “workers’ club” against a commercial juggernaut in fellow German side Bayern Munich, it certainly felt that way when they played Real Madrid in this season’s showpiece.

It was similar when Inter Milan reached the final against Manchester City last season. Inter have won the European Cup as many times (three) as Manchester United and indeed they have won it more recently, but they too seem to have been left behind in the modern era. The latter stages of the Champions League felt like their natural habitat in the 2000s. By 2023, reaching the semi-finals, never mind the final, seemed extraordinary.

And that is Dortmund and Inter — never mind other former giants such as Benfica, Porto and Ajax (to say nothing of Celtic , Red Star Belgrade and the rest). The 21st-century financial landscape has put these clubs far beyond most of their domestic rivals but unable to compete financially with even mid-ranking Premier League clubs, let alone the Champions League elite.

What comes next for Borussia Dortmund?

The European game is at such a strange point in its history.

The football itself is frequently enthralling, highly technical and played at an astonishing speed, but the structure of the sport’s European model feels increasingly broken: by greed, by entitlement, by the biggest clubs demanding an ever greater share of revenue and ever more protection against underperformance. Attempts to preserve wild-card places for underperforming big clubs have so far been resisted, but that is clearly the direction of travel.

UEFA’s solution, as always, is to give the elite more of what they want — but not enough to please most of them. The solution proposed by Perez and others is for the most powerful clubs to wrestle power from UEFA and to be allowed to do as they please.

“To fix a problem, you have to first recognise that you have a problem,” Perez said in 2021, before making clear his belief that European football’s issue was not dubious ownership models, nor the spread of multi-club networks, a bulging fixture calendar or a chronic financial and competitive imbalance across the continent. The only problem he was interested in was the one that could be solved by “top-level games year-round, with the best players competing”.

But Perez doesn’t necessarily mean “top-level games” between the best teams of the day. He wants the most marketable matches.

If he feels short-changed by a Champions League campaign in which Madrid faced Napoli , Braga, Union Berlin, RB Leipzig , City, Bayern and Dortmund, you suspect he would be happier to have played Juventus and Liverpool (who didn’t qualify), Manchester United (who were knocked out in the group stage) and Barcelona (beaten in the quarter-finals).

Provided his team still ended up winning, of course.

Two great contradictions arise from the past decade of European competition.

The first, much discussed elsewhere and not greatly relevant to this article, is that this period of Madrid domination, unprecedented in the Champions League era, has felt strange as far as the quality of their performances is concerned.

It is undoubtedly strange that they have come to dominate an era while rarely dominating their matches against top-class opponents. It must leave Pep Guardiola wondering how on earth, beyond the small margins of knockout football, his City side have just one European Cup to show for their sustained excellence over the past seven seasons.

The second contradiction — perhaps linked to the first, perhaps not — is that, in an era when the biggest clubs have enjoyed access to revenue streams that were previously beyond their wildest dreams, several of them have lost their way due to serious mismanagement.

Barcelona, Madrid’s fiercest rivals, have flirted with financial calamity and have reached the Champions League semi-finals just once in the past eight seasons; Manchester United have reached just two quarter-finals in the past 13 seasons under the Glazer family’s miserable, directionless ownership; Juventus reached the final in 2015 and 2017 while in the midst of winning nine consecutive Serie A titles, but they have fallen away from the top tier of European football as ownership and management issues escalated.

It is almost as if some of these ownership regimes became so fixated on driving up revenue streams and reimagining European football’s future that they lost sight of their own club’s present.

That is not an accusation that could be levelled at the Perez regime.

Obsessed as he might be by his Super League dream and his power struggle with UEFA, he has overseen Madrid’s evolution into a club that plays the transfer market shrewdly, always looking for the next big talents in world football (Vinicius Jr, Rodrigo, Bellingham, incoming Brazilian teenager Endrick ) and always respecting experience and knowledge while recognising when it is right to let a fading A-list talent grow old at another club’s expense.

Barcelona and Manchester United, from a broadly similar financial position, have spent enormous sums of money in a wildly erratic manner and allowed dysfunction to take hold. By contrast, Madrid have established a clear vision, made good appointments and built a winning environment .

They have also without question ridden their luck at times in the Champions League. That needs to be emphasised: both the luck they have had in some of their winning campaigns (not least the last two) and the assurance Ancelotti and his players have shown in being able to ride it. In some of the individual success stories — Ancelotti, Nacho , Dani Carvajal , Toni Kroos , Vinicius Jr, Bellingham — there is so much to like.

The most uplifting stories of the past few seasons in European football, though, have come away from the Champions League’s spotlight, with Europa League final successes for Villarreal , Eintracht Frankfurt , Sevilla and Atalanta , as well as the success of the initially derided third-tier Conference League, which Roma, West Ham United and Olympiacos have won in its first three years.

The joy in those celebrations, particularly after Olympiacos beat Fiorentina in the Conference League final last week, was truly something to behold.

It has shown there is still life and ambition among those clubs who have been conditioned to accept their place in the game’s 21st-century order and be grateful for whatever crumbs might fall from the top table.

Former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli once infamously asked whether Atalanta truly merited a place in the Champions League while on their way to a third consecutive third-placed finish in Serie A. When it comes to outperforming expectations and resources over recent seasons, few clubs in Europe have been more deserving.

Surely that is the lesson for European football to draw from the past decade: that, in 2024, there still has to be such a thing as upward mobility, that a club like Olympiacos can win a European trophy, that clubs like Atalanta, Bologna and Aston Villa can still reach the Champions League, that a club like Bayer Leverkusen can break Bayern’s monopoly of the Bundesliga . In an era when hope has been crushed — when Bayern have been able to sleepwalk their way to some of their 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles, often sacking coaches as they go — Leverkusen’s success under Xabi Alonso has been particularly inspiring.

But such love stories rarely seem to endure these days. It seems inevitable that, before long, Leverkusen will fall prey to those clubs higher up the food chain, seeing their best players whisked away, just as Klopp’s Dortmund team did, just like the Monaco team of 2016-17 or the Ajax of 2018-19 did. Maybe their manager, too.

And at the very top of that food chain are Madrid, the sport’s apex predator, now champions of Europe for a 15th time, somehow re-establishing their dominance in an era when they felt threatened like never before.

Leaving the stadium after Saturday’s final, it was hard to escape the feeling that European football, having allowed its problems to pile up over a long period of time, is entering a period of uncertainty and seismic change.

This convoluted “Swiss format” will be the most inescapable change in next season’s Champions League, but, whether it has the desired effect or not, you can imagine the Super League mob clinging to its success or failure as irrefutable evidence of the need for radical reform.

The game needs proper leadership. It needs someone to stand up and fight for tradition, for jeopardy, for the romance that runs through the history of European competition.

Hearing his heartening words on his way out of Wembley, you might have imagined that person would be the 77-year-old president of Real Madrid, the man who talks fondly and reverently about the European Cup and his club’s enormous contribution to it.

But no, Florentino Perez has a different perspective on that relationship these days. As love stories go, it’s increasingly complicated.

Real Madrid's Champions League party: Speeches, cigars, Carvajal's dad on horseback

(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)

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Before joining The Athletic as a senior writer in 2019, Oliver Kay spent 19 years working for The Times, the last ten of them as chief football correspondent. He is the author of the award-winning book Forever Young: The Story of Adrian Doherty, Football’s Lost Genius. Follow Oliver on Twitter @ OliverKay

Muller: It's hard to accept Bayern's exit

Thomas Muller and Julian Nagelsmann have expressed their disappointment following Bayern Munich's surprise UEFA Champions League elimination.

Thomas Muller says Bayern Munich's elimination from the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Villarreal is "difficult to accept". The Bundesliga leaders crashed out in the quarter-finals for the second season running, as Samuel Chukwueze's late strike at the Allianz Arena snatched a 1-1 draw on the night, and a 2-1 aggregate victory, for the UEFA Europa League holders. Julian Nagelsmann's side, beaten 1-0 in the first leg, dominated the game as they sought a ninth win from 11 Champions League quarter-final ties. But despite Robert Lewandowski drawing them level early in the second half, Bayern were unable to capitalise on their superiority as they could only find the back of the net once from 23 attempts at goal. And the Bavarian giants were stunned two minutes from time, when Chukwueze rounded off a devastating counter-attack to send Villarreal through to a first semi-final in this competition in 16 years. Muller knows Bayern only have themselves to blame for lacking a cutting edge. "If you take just this game into account, without the first game, we should have gone through convincingly," he told Amazon Prime. It's difficult to accept this. I don't know what to say. "It's bitter to concede after that performance. With the fans behind us, we pushed, pushed, pushed from the start. We have to do more in front of goal." Bitter Nagelsmann said the nature of Bayern's exit left a sour taste in the mouth. "The first leg was the key. Today we did very well. It was one of our best games. But we should have made it 2-0 in the second half. "It's all very bitter. We had very little space, there was always a danger of getting hit on the counter, and creating many chances against such a deep defence is hard. If you don't win and get eliminated, that's just the way it is." Villarreal will do battle with Liverpool or Benfica for a place in the final. Text courtesy of Stats Perform.

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Champions League final picks, predictions as Real Madrid face Dortmund: Jude Bellingham, Vini Jr. win it all

Saturday will decide who is crowned champion of europe as the heavy favorites look to avoid slipping up against dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid play for the title at Wembley Stadium Saturday .

Real Madrid are the favorites to win a record 15th European title in London, and head to the British capital after an undefeated season in Champions League play. Their high-profile attack has taken center stage over the course of the campaign – Jude Bellingham emerged as the breakout star of the tournament with three goals and four assists, while each of Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Joselu have five goals .

Dortmund, meanwhile, are not to be underestimated after a Cinderella run to the final . They eye redemption 11 years after losing the final at Wembley to Bayern Munich and overcame a series of major hurdles along the way. They topped a group that included Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Newcastle United , later meeting PSG again in the semifinals and ousting the French champions. Dortmund come into the final with a strong defensive record, as goalkeeper Gregor Kobel leads the Champions League with six clean sheets, but also some attacking firepower in Marcel Sabitzer, who's in charge of the assist charts with five.

Here's what you need to know before the big game, including picks from experts across the CBS Sports team.

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• 3 p.m.: Borussia Dortmund vs. Real Madrid,  CBS and Paramount+
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• 6:30 p.m.: The Champions Club, CBS Sports Golazo Network

Champions League semifinal picks

Borussia dortmund vs. real madrid.

One matchup to watch -  Vinicius Junior vs. Julian Ryerson and Karim Adeyemi:  The Borussia Dortmund right flank might be forgiven for skipping over the tape from Real Madrid's semifinal win over Bayern Munich when the time comes to prepare for their forthcoming opponent. No one really needs to be shown how cruelly effective Vinicius can be when he gets the scent of weak prey. Real Madrid's No.7 has been in devastating form over recent months, saving his most decisive contributions for the biggest games with assists and goals in the triumphs over Manchester City and Bayern. Dortmund did a fine job of slowing but not stopping the advance of Paris Saint-Germain's wide forwards in the semifinals, but they will be tested once more come Saturday night.  -- James Benge

Most likely to score a goal -  Jude Bellingham: It feels written that the former Dortmund man will come back to haunt his ex-employers. Although Vini Jr. would be another good shout for this, the England international scoring a goal to seal Real's latest UCL crown and throwing down the gauntlet to Kylian Mbappe at the same time feels like the most probable scenario. Up against Los Blancos' firepower, it is hard to see Dortmund's rock solid defense resisting over 90 minutes. - Jonathan Johnson

Man of the Match pick -  Jude Bellingham:  I'm going to go along with Jonathan here as all signs point to this being the Jude Bellingham show. Playing his former team in front of home fans in England, Bellingham will not only score the winner for Real Madrid but he'll also put in a defensive shift to help contain Dortmund's attack. Already having one of the best debut seasons for a new club that we've seen, Bellingham will end it on the ultimate high winning the UCL final.   - Chuck Booth

Match prediction: Real Madrid are the leading favorites to win their 15th Champions League trophy, but Borussia Dortmund should not be underestimated, considering the importance of the final. The Spanish giants, thanks to the work of Carlo Ancelotti, can make history at Wembley and this is what I expect to happen. PICK: Real Madrid 2, BVB 0.    - Francesco Porzio

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• Jude Bellingham's impact during his first season for Real Madrid
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• What role will Brahim Diaz play for Real Madrid?

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