This was the final season with the current format of 32 teams participating in the group stage, following UEFA's announcement of a new expanded format to be introduced for the following edition.[3]
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:[4]
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.
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.[5] 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
Association ranking for 2023–24 UEFA Champions League
The following is the default access list for the 2023–24 season.[6]
Access list for 2023–24 UEFA Champions League
Teams entering in this round
Teams advancing from previous round
Preliminary round (4 teams)
4 champions from associations 52–55
—
First qualifying round (30 teams)
29 champions from associations 22–51 (except Liechtenstein)[Note LIE]
1 winner from the preliminary round
Second qualifying round (24 teams)
Champions Path (20 teams)
5 champions from associations 17–21
15 winners from the first qualifying round
League Path (4 teams)
4 runners-up from associations 12–15
—
Third qualifying round (20 teams)
Champions Path (12 teams)
2 champions from associations 15–16
10 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path (8 teams)
4 runners-up from associations 7–11 (except Russia)[Note RUS]
2 third-placed teams from associations 5–6
2 winners from the second qualifying round (League Path)
Play-off round (12 teams)
Champions Path (8 teams)
2 champions from associations 13–14
6 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path (4 teams)
—
4 winners from the third qualifying round (League Path)
Group stage (32 teams)
Europa League title holder
11 champions from associations 1–12 (except Russia)[Note RUS]
6 runners-up from associations 1–6
4 third-placed teams from associations 1–4
4 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–4
4 winners from the play-off round (Champions Path)
2 winners from the play-off round (League Path)
Knockout phase (16 teams)
—
8 group winners from the group stage
8 group runners-up from the group stage
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).
Belarus (BLR):Shakhtyor Soligorsk would have qualified as champions of the 2022 Belarusian Premier League but were found guilty of match-fixing by the ABFF and denied a UEFA license. Runners-up Energetik-BGU Minsk were also found guilty of match-fixing and also denied a UEFA license. As a result, the Football Federation of Belarus decided to award the Champions League spot to BATE Borisov, who finished 3rd in the league.[7]
Russia (RUS): On 28 February 2022, Russian football clubs and national teams were suspended from FIFA and UEFA competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[8] The tables reflect Russia's ongoing suspension from UEFA competitions.[9]
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[10][11][12] All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from the preliminary round final and the final.
A total of four teams played in the preliminary round. Seeding of teams was based on their 2023 UEFA club coefficients,[13] 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.
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 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 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.
^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.[14] The match was rescheduled for 19 August 2023 and became the second leg of the tie.[15]
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.
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:
^ abTied on head-to-head points, goal difference, and goals scored. Goal difference in all matches: Real Sociedad +5, Inter Milan +3.
^ abTied 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.
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 are 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).
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 18 December 2023, 12:00 CET.[17]
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.
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 15 March 2024, 12:00 CET.[18]
The first legs were played on 9 and 10 April, and the second legs were played on 16 and 17 April 2024.
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 March 2024, 12:00 CET, after the quarter-final draw.[18]
The first legs were played on 30 April and 1 May, and the second legs were played on 7 and 8 May 2024.
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.[18]
^"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.