2024/25 Women's Champions League: Dates, access list, full guide
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The group stage will run between October and December, with rounds 1 and 2 both in September, and the Lisbon final in the last weekend of May.
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The 2024/25 UEFA Women's Champions League will be the fourth and final season of the current format including a home-and-away group stage, played between October and December.
2024/25 UEFA Women's Champions League match dates
Preliminary round (if needed)
Draw: 5 July, Nyon
First leg: 24/25 July
Second leg: 31 July/1 August
Round 1 (one-venue mini-tournaments)
Draw: 5 July, Nyon
Semi-finals: 4 September
Final/third-place play-off: 7 September
Round 2
Draw: 9 September, Nyon
First leg: 18/19 September
Second leg: 25/26 September
Group stage
Draw: 27 September, Nyon
Matchday 1: 8/9 October
Matchday 2: 16/17 October
Matchday 3: 12/13 November
Matchday 4: 20/21 November
Matchday 5: 11/12 December
Matchday 6: 17/18 December
Quarter-finals
Draw: 7 February , Nyon
First leg: 18/19 March
Second leg: 26/27 March
Semi-finals
Draw: 7 February , Nyon
First leg: 19/20 April
Second leg: 26/27 April
Final (Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon)
23, 24 or 25 May tbc
How does the UEFA Women's Champions League work?
- The centrepiece is a 16-team group stage, which involves four groups of four playing each other home and away between October and December. The top two from each group progress to the knockout phase from March, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals played over two legs, and a one-off final.
- Four teams qualify directly for the group stage, with the other 12 spots decided by two routes: champions path (7 qualifiers) and league path (5 qualifiers).
- Both paths will have the same format. Round 1 will be played as four-team knockout mini-tournaments with the final winners progressing. Round 2 will be played as two-legged knockout ties. If there are more than 50 associations entering, the champions path will have a two-legged preliminary round.
How many teams does each nation enter to the UEFA Women's Champions League?
- The access list is determined by the UEFA Women's Association Club Coefficients at the end of the 2022/23 season.
- The six highest-ranked associations have three entries: France, Germany, Spain, England, Italy, Sweden.
- The next ten highest-ranked associations have two entries: Czechia, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Austria, Ukraine, Iceland, Belarus.
- Every other association is entitled to one entry.
- The definitive access list is set in June, once the final number of entries for the competition and the title holders are known.
Who enters the UEFA Women's Champions League in each round?
- The title holders and the champions of the three highest-ranked associations (France, Germany and Spain) enter in the group stage. If the champions are already qualified as holders, which is the case as Barcelona won their domestic leagues, the fourth-ranked nation, England, receive an automatic place for their champions, meaning that the four teams entering direct in the group stage are Barcelona, Lyon, Bayern and Chelsea.
- The champions of the remaining associations go into the champions path. The champions of the associations ranked 5 to 7 (Italy, Sweden, Czechia) enter in Round 2, with the rest entering in Round 1 (or the preliminary round if required).
- The runners-up of the six highest-ranked associations (France, Germany, Spain, England, Italy, Sweden) will enter in Round 2 of the league path. The third-placed teams of those six associations, and the runners-up of the next ten highest-ranked associations (Czechia, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Austria, Ukraine, Iceland, Belarus) enter in Round 1 of the league path.