Aston Villa's 35 likeliest Champions League group stage opponents revealed as new format explained

The Villans’ 3-3 comeback draw against Liverpool didn’t make as much of a difference as first thought as Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday mathematically confirmed the fight’s conclusion.

It’s been an extraordinary season, led by genius manager Unai Emery and a determined squad. Villa have been ravaged by long-term injuries to the likes of Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia, Jacob Ramsey and Boubacar Kamara but the no-excuse culture has remained firm. No team in the top four has a better head-to-head record than Villa, proving they are ready to battle with the big dogs.

And that’s exactly what the men in claret and blue will be doing next campaign as the Champions League is the world’s most elite continental competition. Won one previously by Villa under it’s old name ‘the European Cup’ in 1982, there’s an opportunity to rewrite history and add another to the tally.

New Champions League format explained

UEFA’s top club competition has expanded in size, from 32 teams to 36 starting from the 2024/25 season. Villa will face eight different clubs in the group stage, rather than the previous three, but only play each side once opposed to twice.

Group stage opponents will be decided by four ‘pots’ - calculated by UEFA’s coefficient points - and Villa will take on two teams from each, one home and one away.

Once the group stage is over, the top eight clubs out of the league of 36 will automatically qualify for the knockout stage. The teams placed ninth to 24th will enter a play-off round of 16 sides, the eight winners of which will join the other eight already qualified.

The process of dropping down to the Europa League has now been scrapped, meaning Villa must progress from the Champions League group stage to continue their European venture.

Emery’s side will receive £16 million upfront for just qualifying for the Champions League, while each win in the group stage is worth £1.81 million and every draw £600,000.

The 35 likeliest teams Villa could play

Only 23 of the 36 clubs in next season’s Champions League have been confirmed but the other 13 appear fairly set ahead of the final-day fixtures across the top divisions in Europe. The four pots, albeit unofficially so, are also taking shape.

According to Football Rankings, Villa are expected to be in pot four, and the low coefficient score of 20.860 effectively confirms that will be the case. The rest of the teams in each pot have also been projected, providing an idea of potential opponents. With qualified teams in bold, here’s a run-through.

Pot one projection

• Manchester City (ENG - 148.000 coeff.)
• Bayern Munich (GER - 144.000 coeff.)
• Real Madrid (ESP - 134.000 coeff.)
• Paris Saint-Germain (FRA - 116.000 coeff.)
• Liverpool (ENG - 114.000 coeff.)
• Inter Milan (ITA - 101.000 coeff.)
• Borussia Dortmund (GER - 97.000 coeff.)
• RB Leipzig (GER - 97.000 coeff.)
• FC Barcelona (ESP - 91.000 coeff.)

Pot two projection

• Bayer Leverkusen (GER - 90.000 coeff.)
• Atletico Madrid (ESP - 88.000 coeff.)
• Juventus (ITA - 80.000 coeff.)
• Atalanta (ITA - 79.000 coeff.)
• Benfica (POR - 79.000 coeff.)
• Arsenal (ENG - 72.000 coeff.)
• Club Brugge (BEL - 64.000 coeff.)
• Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR - 63.000 coeff.)
• AC Milan (ITA - 59.000 coeff.)

Pot three projection

• Feyenoord (NED - 57.000 coeff.)
• Sporting CP (POR - 54.500 coeff.)
• PSV Eindhoven (NED - 54.000 coeff.)
• Slavia Praha (CZE - 53.000 coeff.)
• FC Copenhagen (DEN - 51.500 coeff.)
• LOSC Lille (FRA - 47.000 coeff.)
• Fenerbahce (TUR - 36.000 coeff.)
• Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR - 35.500 coeff.)
• Celtic (SCO - 32.000 coeff.)

Pot four projection

• Galatasaray (TUR - 31.500 coeff.)
• AS Monaco (FRA - 24.000 coeff.)
• Sparta Praha (CZE - 22.500 coeff.)
• Aston Villa (ENG - 20.860 coeff.)
• Bologna (ITA - 17.999 coeff.)
• Girona (ESP - 17.847 coeff.)
• Stuttgart (GER - 17.324 coeff.)
• Sturm Graz (AUT - 14.500 coeff.)
• AEK Athens (GRE - 10.000 coeff.)

The official draw for the 2024/25 Champions League group stage will be made on August 29, 2024.