69th season of the UEFA club football tournament
International football competition
The 2023–24 UEFA Champions League was the 69th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 32nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid defeated Borussia Dortmund 2–0 in the final, which was played at the Wembley Stadium in London, England,[3] for a record-extending 15th European Cup title, and their sixth in eleven years.[4] As winners, Real Madrid earned the right to play against Atalanta, the winners of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League, in the 2024 UEFA Super Cup. They also qualified for the final of the brand-new 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
This was the final season with the format of 32 teams participating in the group stage, following UEFA's announcement of a new expanded format introduced in the following edition.[5]
Manchester City were the defending champions, but were eliminated by eventual winners Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
Association team allocation
A total of 78 teams from 53 of the 55 UEFA member associations participated in the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League (the exceptions being Liechtenstein,[Note LIE] which did not organise a domestic league, and Russia[Note RUS]). The association ranking based on the UEFA association coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:[6]
- Associations 1–4 each had four teams qualify.
- Associations 5–6 each had three teams qualify.
- Associations 7–15 (except Russia)[Note RUS] each had two teams qualify.
- Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein)[Note LIE] each had one team qualify.
- The winners of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League and 2022–23 UEFA Europa League were each given an additional entry if they did not qualify for the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League through their domestic league.
Association ranking
For the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2022 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2017–18 to 2021–22.[7] The team allocation reflected Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA competitions.
Apart from the allocation based on the association coefficients, associations could have additional teams (a maximum of 5 per association) participating in the Champions League, as noted below:
- (UEL) – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders
Distribution
The following is the default access list for the 2023–24 season.[8]
Due to the suspension of Russia for the 2023–24 European season, the following changes to the access list were made:
- The champions of association 11 (Serbia) entered the group stage instead of the play-off round (Champions Path).
- The champions of association 13 (Belgium) entered the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
- The champions of association 15 (Greece) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round (Champions Path).
- The champions of associations 18 (Denmark) and 19 (Croatia) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round (Champions Path).
- The runner-up of association 11 (Serbia) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round (League Path).
Since the Champions League title holders (Manchester City) qualified via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list were made:
- The champions of association 12 (Ukraine) entered the group stage instead of the play-off round (Champions Path).
- The champions of association 14 (Switzerland) entered the play-off round instead of the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
- The champions of association 16 (Czech Republic) entered the third qualifying round instead of the second qualifying round (Champions Path).
- The champions of associations 20 (Turkey) and 21 (Cyprus) entered the second qualifying round instead of the first qualifying round (Champions Path).
Teams
The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:
- TH: Champions League title holders
- EL: Europa League title holders
- 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th: League positions of the previous season
The second qualifying round, third qualifying round and play-off round were divided into Champions Path (CH) and League Path (LP).
Notes
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[12][13][14] All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the preliminary round final and the final.
Qualifying rounds
Preliminary round
A total of four teams played in the preliminary round. Seeding of teams was based on their 2023 UEFA club coefficients,[15] with two seeded teams and two unseeded teams in the semi-finals. The matches took place at Kópavogsvöllur in Kópavogur, Iceland. For administrative purposes, the home team in each draw were the first team drawn in each tie in the semi-finals. The same applied for the final draw, between the two winners of the semi-finals, whose identity was not known at the time of draw.The winner of the preliminary round final advanced to the first qualifying round. The losers of the semi-finals and final transferred to the Europa Conference League second qualifying round Champions Path.
First qualifying round
The draw for the first qualifying round was held on 20 June 2023.
The first legs were played on 11 and 12 July, and the second legs were played on 18 and 19 July 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the Champions Path second qualifying round. 13 of the 15 losers were transferred to the Europa Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round and 2 losers received a bye and were transferred to the Europa Conference League Champions Path third qualifying round.
Notes
Second qualifying round
The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 21 June 2023.
The first legs were played on 25 and 26 July, and the second legs were played on 1 and 2 August 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the third qualifying round of their respective path. The Champions Path losers were transferred to the Europa League Champions Path third qualifying round, while the League Path losers were transferred to the Europa League Main Path third qualifying round.
Third qualifying round
The draw for the third qualifying round was held on 24 July 2023.
The first legs were played on 8, 9 and 15 August, and the second legs were played on 15 and 19 August 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the play-off round of their respective path. The Champions Path losers were transferred to the Europa League play-off round, while the League Path losers were transferred to the Europa League group stage.
Notes
- ^ The first leg of the AEK Athens–Dinamo Zagreb tie, originally scheduled to be played on 8 August 2023, was postponed following supporter riots in which one person died.[16] The match was rescheduled for 19 August 2023 and became the second leg of the tie.[17]
Play-off round
The draw for the play-off round was held on 7 August 2023.
The first legs were played on 22 and 23 August, and the second legs were played on 29 and 30 August 2023.
The winners of the ties advanced to the group stage. The losers were transferred to the Europa League group stage.
Group stage
Location of teams of the
2023–24 UEFA Champions League group stage
Brown: Group A;
Red: Group B;
Orange: Group C;
Yellow: Group D;
Green: Group E;
Blue: Group F;
Purple: Group G;
Pink: Group H.
Location of
Benelux and nearby teams of the
2023–24 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Red: Group B; Green: Group E;
Blue: Group F; Pink: Group H.The group stage draw for the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League took place at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, on 31 August at 18:00 CEST. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots, each of eight teams, based on the following principles:
Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
Union Berlin and Antwerp made their debut appearances in the group stage.
A total of 15 national associations were represented in the group stage.
Group A
Source: UEFA
Group B
Source: UEFA
Group C
Source: UEFA
Group D
Source: UEFA
Notes:
- ^ a b Tied on head-to-head points, goal difference, and goals scored. Goal difference in all matches: Real Sociedad +5, Inter Milan +3.
- ^ a b Tied on head-to-head points, goal difference, goals scored, and goal difference in all matches. Goals scored in all matches: Benfica 7, Red Bull Salzburg 4.
Group E
Source: UEFA
Group F
Source: UEFA
Notes:
- ^ a b Tied on head-to-head points. Head-to-head goal difference: Paris Saint-Germain +2, Milan −2.
Group G
Source: UEFA
Group H
Source: UEFA
Notes:
- ^ a b Head-to-head points: Barcelona 6, Porto 0.
Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final.
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:
- In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
- In the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner was designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).
Bracket
Round of 16
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 18 December 2023, 12:00 CET.[19]The first legs were played on 13, 14, 20 and 21 February, and the second legs were played on 5, 6, 12 and 13 March 2024.
Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 15 March 2024, 12:00 CET.[20]The first legs were played on 9 and 10 April, and the second legs were played on 16 and 17 April 2024.
Semi-finals
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 March 2024, 12:00 CET, after the quarter-final draw.[20]The first legs were played on 30 April and 1 May, and the second legs were played on 7 and 8 May 2024.
Final
The final was played on 1 June 2024 at Wembley Stadium in London. A draw was held on 15 March 2024, after the quarter-final and semi-final draws, to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes.[20]
Statistics
Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off round.
Top goalscorers
Bayern Munich's
Harry Kane (left) and Paris Saint-Germain's
Kylian Mbappé (right) were the tournament's top scorers with 8 goals each.
Team of the Season
Real Madrid forward
Vinícius Júnior (left) was named the Champions League Player of the Season, while his teammate midfielder
Jude Bellingham (right) was named the Young Player of the Season.
The UEFA technical study group selected the following players as the team of the tournament.[23]
Player of the Season
Young Player of the Season
See also
References
- ^ a b "Vinícius Júnior named 2023/24 UEFA Champions League Player of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Jude Bellingham named 2023/24 UEFA Champions League Young Player of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
- ^ "Champions League final hosts for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024". UEFA. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ^ "Real Madrid win Champions League: Carvajal and Vinícius Júnior see off Dortmund". UEFA. 1 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "UEFA approves final format and access list for its club competitions as of the 2024/25 season". UEFA.com. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2023/24 Season". Nyon: UEFA. 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
- ^ "Association coefficients 2021/22". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ^ "Access list 2021–24" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ^ "БАТЭ не стане чэмпіёнам Беларусі, але будзе заяўляцца ў Лігу чэмпіёнаў" [BATE will not become the champion of Belarus, but will enter the Champions League] (in Belarusian). Tribuna. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ "Ukraine crisis: Fifa and Uefa suspend all Russian clubs and national teams". BBC.co.uk. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs" (Press release). Nyon: UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ^ "2023/24 UEFA Champions League: Matches, final, key dates". UEFA. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- ^ "International match calendar and access list for the 2023/24 season". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 65/2022. Union of European Football Associations. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ "2023 European football calendar: Match and draw dates for all UEFA competitions". UEFA. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- ^ "Club coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 14 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ Gatopoulos, Derek; Dunbar, Graham (8 August 2023). "Fan killed in Greece during clashes between rival supporters. UEFA postpones Champions League game". Associated Press News. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ "UEFA statement on AEK Athens FC vs GNK Dinamo match". UEFA.com. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ "Club coefficients | UEFA Coefficients". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ "Champions League round of 16 draw: Napoli vs Barcelona, Inter vs Atlético de Madrid, Lepzig vs Real Madrid". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ a b c "Champions League quarter-final draw: Real Madrid vs Man City, Paris vs Barcelona". UEFA.com. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ "Full Time Report Final – Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 June 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "UEFA Champions League – Top Scorers". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "2023/24 UEFA Champions League Team of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League.
Atlético Madrid
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Manchester United
Inter Milan
Pink: Group H.
Vinícius Júnior (
Real Madrid)[1]
Jude Bellingham (
