Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have qualified for the 2024-25 Champions League following an excellent season in whcih they once again finished Premier League runners-up to billionaire moneybags Manchester City. 

It is the second successive campaign that Arteta has guided his side to the promised land of the world's richest club knock-out tournament, following a gap of seven years without quaifying. 

However, how UEFA have altered the format of the tournament in a bid to admit more clubs into the competition.

Meaning Europe's governing body have scrapped the traditional eight groups of four approach that supporters have become accustomed to.

How does the new format work

There will now be a 36-team league phase, where all teams will be competing against each other in a single table.

Clubs will play eight matches in the new league phase, against eight different teams, split evenly between home and away games.

To determine the eight different opponents, teams will be ranked in four seeding pots, as has been the case for many years.

Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of the pots, playing one match from each pot at home, and one away.

Who has qualified so far for the 2024-25 Champions League 

We know 29 of the 36 teams who will be competing in the league stage, with the teams listed below earning their places through domestic league qualification:

England: Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa

Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Atletico Madrid

Germany: Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig

Italy: Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Atalanta

France: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Brest

Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord

Portugal: Sporting Lisbon, Benfica

Belgium: Club Brugge

Scotland: Celtic

Austria: Sturm Graz

Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk (home games to be played in Gelsenkirchen, at Schalke 04's Veltins Arena)

In addition Bologna and Borussia Dortmund also qualified after Italy and Germany received an extra place after their club sides performed the best in UEFA tournaments last term.

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Who else could qualify

The last seven clubs will emerge after a play-off round, with Dinamo Zagreb, Red Star Belgrade, Young Boys and Galatasaray definitely featuring, after winning their domestic leagues.

The other 10 places in the play-offs will come after three qualification rounds.

Rangers, Slavia Prague, Red Bull Salzburg and Lille are all at that stage, where they await winning teams from previous rounds.

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Who could Arsenal face in the 2024-25 Champions League

Mikel Arteta's side will feature in Pot 2 due to our current UEFA coefficient ranking.

Which means the North Londoners will face a pair of the remaining seven teams in Pot 1:

Real Madrid

Bayern Munich

Paris Saint-Germain

Inter Milan

Borussia Dortmund

RB Leipzig

Barcelona

Plus two of these teams currently in Pot 2 alongside the Gunners

Bayer Leverkusen

Atletico Madrid

Atalanta

Juventus

Benfica

Club Brugge

Shakhtar Donetsk

AC Milan (*could drop into Pot 3)

The remaining qualified clubs will all be in either Pot 3 or Pot 4 depending on who joins them from the play-off round - with Arsenal facing two from each of those pots to make up our eight games.

Teams from the same nation cannot be drawn against each other - which means Arteta's Arsenal will avoid clashing with Man City, Liverpool and Aston Villa.

When will the draw be made?

The draw for the new 36-team league phase will take place on August 29, 2024 - the day after the completion of the final play-off matches.

When will the games take place?

Given that there are now two extra games to squeeze in an already crowded calendar, the league stage won't be completed until the end of January 2025.

From that point onwards, knockout games will be hosted every month until the end of May when the final will be held at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

Matchday 1: September 17–19, 2024

Matchday 2: October 1/2, 2024

Matchday 3: October 22/23, 2024

Matchday 4: November 5/6, 2024

Matchday 5: November 26/27, 2024

Matchday 6: December 10/11, 2024

Matchday 7: January 21/22, 2025

Matchday 8: January 29 2025

Knockout round play-offs: February 11/12 & 18/19, 2025

Round of 16: March 4/5 & 11/12, 2025

Quarter-finals: April 8/9 & 15/16, 2025

Semi-finals: April 29/30 & May 6/7, 2025

Final: May 31, 2025