Champions League 2023/2024: which are the eight qualified teams and when will the quarter-final draw be made

THE Champions League 2023/2024 enters the decisive phase, with the quarter-finals ahead and the eight best teams on the continent competing in home and away series to advance to the final, scheduled for June 1, in Wembley.

real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain, Arsenal, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Monaco and the winner between Atlético de Madrid and Inter of Italy, are the clubs that remain alive in the most exciting competition on the Old Continent, which last year saw Pep Guardiola’s team champion.

One of the last to join this winning batch was Dortmund, who beat PSV 2-0 at home and advanced to the round thanks to a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

The Champions League quarter-finals will be played from 9 to 10 April (first leg) and from 16 to 17 April (return). The semi-finals will then follow, scheduled for 30 April and 1 May (first leg), and 7 and 8 May (return). And as mentioned, the final will be on June 1st in London.

When is the quarter-final draw?

The draw for the quarter-finals and the remainder of the draw, including the semi-finals and final, will take place on Friday 15 March at 8am (Argentina time).

The draw is completely open, which means that there can be crossovers between teams from the same country. There is no seeding or national protection, so clubs can face rivals from the same national association and clubs they have previously faced in the group stage.

How does the draw work? Eight balls with the names of the quarterfinalists are placed in a large central drum, where they are mixed. The first team drawn plays their first match at home against the second team drawn. The procedure will be repeated with the other balls in the pot to complete the quarterfinal pairings.

For the semi-final draw, four balls with sheets marked “Quarter-final winner 1” to “Quarter-final winner 4” will be placed in a large container and mixed. The first and second balls drawn will determine the first pairing of the semi-finals, and the first ball drawn represents the home team of the first leg, the procedure is repeated with the remaining balls in the container to complete the semi-final pairings.

For administrative reasons, a third draw will be carried out to determine the “home” team for the final. Everything will be seen in streaming through the UEFA website and through various sports signals that will broadcast the broadcast.

The 2023/24 UEFA Champions League final will be played on Saturday 1 June at Wembley Stadium in London. Known as the ‘home of football’, Wembley has hosted seven European Cup finals, more than any other stadium.

The Club World Cup, one more prize

The champion of the 2023/2024 Champions League will win the Orejona, the most coveted prize in Old Continent football, but will also earn a place in the 2025 Club World Cup, the special edition that will be played in the United States and with 32 teams coming from all over the world.

UEFA will have 12 representatives, with places guaranteed for the last four champions and the best placed in a ranking made official by FIFA in recent weeks. Chelsea, real Madrid AND Manchester Citythe last three kings of the continent will be in contention.

And many others have already secured their ticket for the excellent work done in the last Champions League: Bayern Munich, Inter, PSG, Porto, Borussia, Benfica and Juventus.

To these 10 clubs we will have to add two more, which will come from this edition’s champion and from whoever is best placed in the rankings. If the champion is Real Madrid or Manchester City, one more place will be freed up in the standings.

While waiting for the results that could come from the quarterfinals to the final, Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid remain on hold, as do other teams such as Arsenal, who would only benefit from being champions.

A limit of two clubs per country will apply to the entry list, except where more than two clubs from the same country win the confederation’s main club competition during the four-year period. That’s why teams like Liverpool, Napoli, Leipzig, Sevilla or Milan have already been excluded despite having a better ranking than, for example, Austrian RB Salzburg, who are still in the running.

The new 32-team competition, which will take place in the United States in June and July 2025, features clubs from each of the six confederations, competing for the title of world champions.