Mock Champions League draw results: Arsenal get Real Madrid, Bayern land Liverpool and Man City

A new tournament format brings a new draw structure with it, here's an example of what it could look like

By James Benge Aug 27, 2024 at 11:56 am ET• 4 min read

The Champions League draw is almost upon us, but this is not Europe's premier competition as you know it. Rather than an eight group, six game path to the last 16 as has been the case since 2004, this year all 36 teams who have qualified for the competition proper will be battling it out against each other for a spot on the road to Munich on May 31.

The league phase of the competition will see every team play eight games between September 17 and January 29. The eight teams who finish with the best record will automatically pass to the first knockout round. Those ranked ninth to 16th in the table will be seeded for a two-legged knockout tie, meaning they play the second match at home, while those who finish between 17th and 24th will make up their unseeded opponents. Everyone else will be out of Europe entirely; no dropping down to the Europa League this time.

Naturally, this new Champions League cannot have each team play everyone else in their league table home and away like they did under the old format. This is where those familiar pots come in. Once more the field will be split into four groups (of nine teams now rather than eight), ranked by coefficient. From there our eight games emerge: regardless of their own pot, every team plays two teams from each of pots one to four, one at home and one away. The same criteria as ever will apply when, with the aid of AI, UEFA makes its draw. Teams cannot face opponents from their own nation. They will also not be able to matchup against more than two teams from the same nation.

Only time will tell if this new format proves to be an improvement on the old group stage, which certainly ran the risk of taking six games to reaffirm the continent's status quo. The league phase will certainly afford more meetings between some of Europe's best and brightest, as our mock draw from Inker proves. Everyone, surely, will be praying to avoid a scenario such as that facing Bayern, who could draw Liverpool, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid. How it will all work out in practice remains to be seen but here's a guide for what you could be seeing come Thursday.

Mock draw results

Disclaimer: There are seven teams that have yet to qualify for the Champions League league phase. For the sake of this exercise, we are using Young Boys, Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan, Red Star, Sparta, Slavia Prague and Salzburg based on last week's results from the first leg of the playoff round.

Simulated Champions League draw matchups

Real Madrid

• HOME: RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Feyenoord, Brest
• AWAY: Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Young Boys, Sturm Graz

Man City

• HOME: Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Slavia Praha, Sturm Graz
• AWAY: Paris Saint-Germain, Bayer Leverkusen, PSV Eindhoven, Bologna 

Bayern Munich

• HOME: Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Dinamo Zagreb, Monaco
• AWAY: Manchester City, Club Brugge, Sporting CP, Girona

Paris Saint-Germain

• HOME: Manchester City, Benfica, PSV Eindhoven, Girona
• AWAY: Inter, Atalanta, Salzburg, Aston Villa

Liverpool

• HOME: Barcelona, Club Brugge, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava
• AWAY: Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Red Star, Stuttgart

Inter

• HOME: Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Young Boys, Stuttgart
• AWAY: Leipzig, Atletico Madrid, Slavia Praha, Brest

Borussia Dortmund

• HOME: Real Madrid, Juventus, Red Star, Aston Villa
• AWAY: Barcelona, Benfica, Celtic, Monaco

Leipzig

• HOME: Inter, Atalanta, Celtic, Sparta Praha
• AWAY: Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava

Barcelona

• HOME: Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting CP, Bologna
• AWAY: Liverpool, Juventus, Feyenoord, Sparta

Bayer Leverkusen

• HOME: Manchester City, Club Brugge, Red Star, Bologna
• AWAY: Barcelona, Atalanta, Sporting CP, Aston Villa

Atletico Madrid

• HOME: Inter, Atalanta, Sporting CP, Aston Villa
• AWAY: Bayern Munich, Shakhtar Donetsk, Young Boys, Slovan Bratislava

Atalanta

• HOME: Paris Saint-Germain, Leverkusen, Dinamo Zagreb, Sparta Praha
• AWAY: Leipzig, Atletico Madrid, Feyenoord, Sturm Graz

Juventus

• HOME: Barcelona, Benfica, Feyenoord, Monaco
• AWAY: Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Celtic, Girona

Benfica

• HOME: Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven, Girona
• AWAY: Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Red Star, Monaco

Arsenal

• HOME: Real Madrid, Juventus, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava
• AWAY: Inter, Clyb Brugge, Slavia Praha, Brest

Club Brugge