The UEFA Champions League 2024/2025 season is underway, and the group stage has already seen some thrilling matches. Heres a rundown of the key results and highlights from the recent matchdays.
Group Stage Matchday 1 and 2 Highlights
Matchday 1 of the Champions League group stage took place from September 17 to 19, 2024. Notable results included Bayern Munich's impressive 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb, Real Madrid's 3-1 victory over Stuttgart, and Liverpool's 3-1 win against AC Milan.
Moving on to Matchday 2, which occurred on October 1 and 2, several teams continued to assert their dominance. Borussia Dortmund had a standout performance, scoring 7 goals in their match, though specific details of this match are not provided in the sources. Other notable wins included Barcelona's victory, Manchester City's win, and Arsenal's success in the new format of the Champions League.
Stade Brest continued their perfect run in the Champions League with a 4-0 thrashing of Red Bull Salzburg, showcasing their strong form in the competition.
New Format and Schedule
The 2024/2025 UEFA Champions League features a new expanded format. The group stage, which runs from September 17, 2024, to January 29, 2025, involves each team playing eight games against eight different teams, with four games at home and four away. Teams are ranked into four pots, and each team plays one match at home and one away against a team from each pot.
The top eight teams in the league phase will qualify for the Round of 16 automatically, while teams finishing in positions 9-24 will enter a knockout round to compete for the remaining spots in the Round of 16. Teams that finish in positions 25-36 will be eliminated from the Champions League.
Key Dates and Knockout Stage
The knockout round play-offs are scheduled for February 11/12 and 18/19, 2025. The Round of 16 will take place on March 4/5 and 11/12, 2025, followed by the quarter-finals on April 8/9 and 15/16, 2025. The semi-finals are set for April 29/30 and May 6/7, 2025, with the final match scheduled for May 31, 2025, at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
As the competition progresses, fans can expect more exciting matches and intense competition among the top European clubs. Stay tuned for further updates and results from the Champions League.
