Champions League draw: PSG seeks third consecutive title, Inter in top seeding

The 2024-2025 Champions League season officially begins with the group stage draw held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo. This year marks a significant format change, expanding to a single league phase with 36 participating teams, divided into nine groups. Each team will play eight matches, with the final standings determining progression to knockout stages.

Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, led by Luis Enrique, are aiming to make history by securing a third consecutive Champions League title. This achievement has been rare in the tournament's 70-year history, with only Real Madrid (twice), Ajax, and Bayern Munich managing such a feat. The allure of the Champions League continues to grow, often dictating transfer spending and player salaries.

This season, the 36 teams will compete for a share of €2.5 billion in prize money. Simply participating guarantees €18 million, with additional earnings for each win (€2.1 million) and draw (€700,000). Last year, PSG reportedly earned €145 million from the competition.

The draw will manually place teams into four seeding pots based on their UEFA coefficients over the last five years. The first pot includes top European clubs such as PSG, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan. Inter, despite an early exit last year, holds the highest coefficient among Italian clubs and has reached two finals in recent years.

Other Italian teams in the draw include Roma, seeded in the second pot despite a seven-year absence from the Champions League, having recently won the Conference League and reached the Europa League final. Napoli, managed by Allegri, is in the third pot, aiming to improve on their previous group stage elimination. The newly promoted Como, managed by Cesc Fàbregas, makes its debut in the fourth pot.