On Tuesday evening, the time has come. The 2024/25 Champions League season begins – and with it a new era. The completely new game mode will be used for the first time this season. The usual group phase has been eliminated, but each team will now face eight other teams – four times away and four times in their own stadium. There will be some exciting and legendary duels on the first matchday.
The first big duel is on Tuesday evening (9pm) the match between AC Milan and Liverpool FC. Not only are two heavyweights of European football facing each other, it is also a repeat of what is probably the most legendary Champions League final of all time. In 2005, the two giants met with two star-studded teams: Paolo Maldini, Andrea Pirlo and Kaka on one side, Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Jamie Garragher on the other.
After a spectacular 3-0 lead for the Italians at half-time, everything looked like a clear winner. But Liverpool came back and equalized after three goals in seven minutes between the 54th and 61st minutes. The English finally turned the game around in the penalty shootout and defeated AC Milan in one of the most dramatic finals of all time.
Another Italian-English final pairing will be repeated on the first matchday. Manchester City will face Italian champions Inter Milan at home on Wednesday evening. In the 2023 final, Pep Guardiola’s team secured the trophy for the first time. Thanks to a goal by Spaniard Rodri in the 68th minute, the Citizens achieved the greatest success in the club’s history.
The final may have been less exciting and dramatic than the match between AC Milan and Liverpool FC, but for fans of the Sky Blues the match will still have an important place in history. Can Inter get their revenge on Wednesday?
In addition to major replays of finals, the new Champions League season also has debutants and some returnees to offer. The biggest surprise was probably Stade Brest’s qualification. For last season’s third-place team, this is their first participation in the Champions League. And that despite the fact that their budget last season was one of the lowest in Ligue 1. On the first match day, Brest will face Sturm Graz from Austria. The club’s president is, by the way, a greengrocer. Stories that only football writes.
With FC Girona, there is also a second debutant in the upcoming CL season. The surprise team from Spain was only promoted again in 2022, and the club only played in Spain’s top division for the first time in 2017. However, the club is part of the City Football Group and thus benefits from the structure and investments of this huge project. On the first matchday, there is a difficult duel away against Paris Saint-Germain.
In addition to the two debutants, three teams – Aston Villa, FC Bologna and Slovan Bratislava – are returning to the competition after a long absence. For Aston Villa, this is their first participation since the 1982/83 season. Back then, the Villans entered the competition as defending champions – but were eliminated in the quarter-finals. Since then, they have not managed to qualify for the competition for over 40 years. However, under successful coach Unai Emery, they have now managed to return to the glorious premier class.
The fans of Slovan Bratislava have to wait even longer to take part. The team from Slovakia last took part in the competition in 1975/76, and now they are returning. The Eastern European team has already celebrated one major European success. In 1969, the team won the European Cup Winners’ Cup – the predecessor of the Europa League.
FC Bologna can go one better. The Italian club waited over 60 years to take part in the premier class. The last time fans were able to cheer on their club was in the 1964/65 season in the European Cup. Thiago Motta has now surprisingly made a comeback. The 42-year-old is no longer on board, however. The ex-professional will also take part in the competition with rivals Juventus Turin.
In the new season, several records could be broken. The first of these are likely to be broken on the first match day, with German participation.
First of all, Harry Kane could replace Wayne Rooney as the best English goalscorer in the Champions League with a goal in Bayern’s opening match against Dynamo Zagreb. If Thomas Müller is also used, another record will be broken in the same match. The veteran would become the sole record holder for CL appearances for a single club. With 151 matches, the 35-year-old currently shares this honour with Xavi. The former international would also overtake Karim Benzema and join the top four. Only Iker Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi would then have more appearances in the Champions League.
In the coming season, another Bayern legend could climb to third place in terms of minutes played. Manuel Neuer is currently 654 minutes away from catching up with Lionel Messi. At 90 minutes per game, this record would be due at the end of the first phase of the CL competition.
Another record that could theoretically be broken on the first match day is the number of penalties scored. Here, Robert Lewandowski (16 penalty goals) is only two goals behind Lionel Messi (18) and three behind record holder Cristiano Ronaldo (19). But will AS Monaco do him the favor of giving away three penalties? FC Barcelona could also become the third club to score over 700 goals in the coming CL season. The Catalans are currently 13 goals away from this goal. If the Blaugrana get far, this is quite conceivable after a maximum of 15 games. The clubs that have managed this so far are Real Madrid (1075 goals) and FC Bayern Munich (825).
Emre Can could also set an inglorious record. The Dortmund player has already seen three red cards in the Champions League in his career. Only three players have been sent off four times. If he is sent off again, Can would join the trio of Sergio Ramos, Edgar Davies and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The new format also puts the record for goals scored on a matchday in danger. Until now, the first matchday of the 2000/2001 season was the highest-scoring matchday of a CL season, with 63 goals in 16 matches. With two more matches per matchday, it is only a matter of time before this record is also broken. Possibly in this first week of the CL.
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