Everything you need to know about Aston Villa’s Champions League campaign in the 2024/25 season including, how the new format works, when the draw dates are and more.
After a highly successful 2023/24 campaign, Unai Emery’s side have now reaped their rewards. Spurs’ 2-0 defeat to Man City means that the Birmingham side’s fourth-place position in the Premier League is confirmed.
On top of all of the prize money Villa will be rewarded with due to this achievement, the club has now qualified for the Champions League.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for a side that was only fighting relegation at the start of the 2022/23 season under Steven Gerrard.
Now, Villa Park will once again be hosting Europe’s most prestigious competition after they tasted victory in 1982.
In this article, you can find everything you need to know about Villa’s upcoming Champions League run.
How does the new Champions League system work?
For the 2024/25 campaign, all of UEFA’s continental competitions will take place in a brand-new format.
Instead of the group stages, the Champions League will have a league table. In this system, Villa will have to play eight matches in the 32-team league.
These fixtures will be decided by four seeded pots, with Villa set to play two sides from each section. Each club will play one match against a team in one pot both home and away.
To qualify for the next round, Villa will need to finish in the top 24. Teams who finish in the top eight will automatically qualify for the Champions League last 16. However, if a side ends up between ninth and 24th place, they will have to compete in a play-off game to qualify for the next round. Anyone below this position will be eliminated from all European competitions that season.
Following this, the rest of the tournament is a traditional knock-out competition, as seen in the previous edition of the Champions League
When does the Champions League start for Aston Villa?
The matchday dates for the league phase can be found below.
Matchday 1: 17–19 September 2024
Matchday 2: 1/2 October 2024
Matchday 3: 22/23 October 2024
Matchday 4: 5/6 November 2024
Matchday 5: 26/27 November 2024
Matchday 6: 10/11 December 2024
Matchday 7: 21/22 January 2025
Matchday 8: 29 January 2025
Read more: Where are Villa’s 1982 European Cup winners now?
When will Villa find out about their Champions League opponents?
The league phase draw will be on August 29. Following this, the play-off knockout stage draw is on January 31 and the round of 16 on February 21.
What pot will Villa be in?
According to Football Rankings, the current projected Champions League pots have Villa in pot four.
Due to their only recent rise into Europe, the Birmingham outfit has not amassed enough coefficient points to move out of the lowest-ranked seed. Villa currently sits on 20.860 points.
Where is the Champions League final being held?
If Villa managed to progress all the way to the Champions League final, as they did in 1982, they would travel to Germany to play at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.
The final will take place on May 31, 2025.
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