Where to Watch The 24/25 Champions League | Free & Paid Options

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Now that the football season is in full gear, it’s time to look at where to watch the Champions League this season. The 2024/25 edition of the competition has taken on a new format that is expected to increase the competition’s appeal.

Key changes UEFA has made are increasing the number of teams from 32 to 36 and the total number of games from 125 to 189. The group stage has now changed to a league phase, which allows fans to watch the top sides face off more often in the early stages of the competition.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about the updated 2024/25 Champions League format and the participating teams.

We’ll also examine different streaming platforms for watching the competition, including free ones you can access with a VPN.

Where Can I Watch the Champions League: List of Streaming Services

The UEFA Champions League is shown in 200+ countries via multiple broadcasters and streaming services grouped into regions. However, the local distributor may not necessarily be the best, as they may not offer all games or be too expensive.

Here’s a quick look at some of the best distributors for the UEFA Champions League 2024/25.

Note that all these streaming services are restricted to specific countries, but you can still bypass the restrictions using a top VPN.

Watch The Champions League on Paramount Plus

Paramount Plus is our pick as the best streaming service to watch the Champions League this season. The US-based streaming service will air all 189 games, and it’s also one of the cheapest at just $5.99 per month.

Paramount+ offers users direct streams for all ongoing games. There’s also a Golazo Show that airs on CBS, which shows all goals and important moments from simultaneous games. On top of that is a 24/7 Champions League channel that streams highlights, goals, and match replays.

Paramount Plus also offers a panel of experts with a dynamic that’s widely praised on social media. It includes former premier league players Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher, and Micah Richards, led by presenter Kate Abdo.

However, the streaming service is geo-restricted, so if you are outside the US, you’ll need a VPN.

That said, you can still subscribe to Paramount+ using third-party services like Google Play and the App Store and fund your account via a prepaid card. There’s a 7-day free trial you can use to test out the service.

Watch The Champions League on Discovery Plus & Prime Video

TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) has been the home of European Competitions in the UK since 2015. However, the expanded format (and increased rights cost) has led to the entrance of Prime Video into the market.

The latter will show 17 games, with the first pick on Tuesday evening games. While this means you won’t have all the games under one roof, TNT Sports remains the home of the competition, as it will have all the other 172 games. It also benefits from the exclusive rights to the Europa League and Conference League.

TNT Sports is available for streaming through Discovery+ Premium (UK only), which includes TNT Sports at £30.99 ($39.99) per month. The plan also offers the Eurosport channels and other sports like Premiership Rugby, MotoGP, boxing, UFC, and WWE.

For the other 17 games, you can get Prime Video in the UK at £8.99 per month or £95 annually. One of the best things about it is that it will still air other matches in Italy and doesn’t lock users to their home country.

This means that regardless of where you’ve registered, you can use it with a VPN to watch the games showing in both the UK and Italy.

Watch The Champions League on DAZN

DAZN is a worldwide sports broadcaster available in 200+ countries. The streaming service is mostly known for boxing and other combat sports, but it’s much more than that – at least in some countries.

Canada and New Zealand offer a wide array of games, including all Champions League and Europa League games. Other sports available in these regions include the NFL, Wrestling, Boxing, La Liga, and Motorsports.

Besides the two countries, the streaming service will also cover various Champions League games in Germany and Portugal, although these are limited as the rights are shared.

However, it’s important to note that DAZN locks user accounts to their country of registration. This means that to watch all games through DAZN, you’ll need a Canadian or New Zealand payment method. You can then use a VPN to connect to a server in the region if you’ve traveled.

Can I Watch The Champions League Free?

Yes, you can watch the Champions League free through free trials and various free platforms.

Different streaming services offer free trials that range from 7 days to 30 days. These can allow you to watch specific stages of the competition based on your preferences.

Here’s a selection of the best streaming services with free trials.

Apart from Prime Video, all the others will offer all 189 games between the 2024/25 and 2026/27 seasons.

Besides these, there are various free-to-air broadcasters that air a few games throughout the season. They’ve reduced in the 2024/25 to 2026/27 rights phase, but you can still watch Champions League games for free through RTL (Belgium) and ZDF (Germany). These won’t require account registration.

However, note that they are all geo-restricted. If you wish to access any of them outside the mentioned regions, use a VPN to connect to a server in the country.

The 2024/25 Champions League — All The Key Details

Europe’s premier competition started in 1955 as the European Cup. In 1992, UEFA then gave it a major facelift, rebranding it to the UEFA Champions League and replacing a pure knock-out style with the group stage we are familiar with.

After some minor changes over the years, the governing body announced in 2021 that it would revamp the format to make the competition more exciting. This was most likely a result of the threat posed by the ill-fated European Super League, but we’ve got a more exciting competition nonetheless.

The new format was approved in May 2022, and it will debut in the 2024/25 season.

Overview of the New Champions League Format

The new Champions League format shakes things up by giving four extra teams a spot among Europe’s elite. We’ll now have 36 teams instead of 32.

In a drastic departure from the old format, there are no more group-stage games. Instead of a team facing three others in six games (home and away), the 36 teams will be thrown into a single league format. Each team will then face eight opponents—four at home and four away.

To decide the opponents, UEFA will group all entrants into four pots based on their UEFA coefficient ranking (over the last five seasons). A team will then face two others from the four pots, ensuring a minimum of eight league-phase matches.

Fixtures against teams in the same pot will be split into home and away games. Since the opponents are also spread out, this will help ensure equity. It will also guarantee that we get to watch the top teams go head-to-head from Matchday 1.

Path to the Knockout Phase

In the new Champions League format, a win still earns 3 points, a draw gets you 1, and a loss none.

At the end of the league phase, the top eight teams will automatically qualify for the round of 16, while the last twelve will see their European journey come to an end.

The teams ranked 9th to 24th will then battle it out in a two-legged play-off to determine who advances to the round of 16. The losing teams won’t have a second chance in the Europa League as third-placed teams did in the group-stage format—the Europa League has its own revamped format.

Once we get to the round of 16, it’s business as usual. All knock-out games (except the final) feature two games, one home and one away.

Qualification Criteria

Given there are four new teams, the qualification format has been altered to accommodate this.

The existing open qualification format that determines 32 teams remains the same. This method allocates automatic qualification spots to different European leagues based on each League’s UEFA coefficient.

The additional four slots available will then be allocated as follows:

The rankings being based on the previous season is a departure from UEFA’s norm, but it’s meant to increase qualification on Merit.

For example, England topped the rankings in four of the previous seasons, and qualification based on five seasons would almost guarantee the country a fifth spot every season.

However, they missed out on the top two spots in the 2023/24 season.

A New Draw Format

A new draw format is necessary to support the expanded structure of the competition. Otherwise, UEFA would need at least 1000 balls and 36 bowls to create the fixtures. The draw now combines minimal human action with computerized decisions.

In the new format, each team will only have a single ball. When it’s picked physically, the computer will assign the team two opponents from each pot. This will be done sequentially and projected on the draw hall and on TV in real time.

The computer’s algorithm has been designed to guarantee randomness. However, it will still ensure that teams from the same country are not drawn against each other in the league phase. A team should also not face more than two teams from the same country.

There’ll also be a Round of 16 draw slightly based on league phase performances. One of the best things about it is that this time round, fans can plot their team’s path to the final once the draw is made.

2024/25 Fixture Schedule

As the number of games has increased significantly, the UEFA Champions League calendar has also been altered. Instead of the group stages ending in December, the league phase will end in January.

There will also be weeks exclusively dedicated to each UEFA competition—the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League. These weeks, the Champions League will be played over three days instead of the regular two days: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Here’s the schedule for the 2024/25 Season:

Champions League Qualifiers

  League Phase Matches

Knockout Stages Matches

Champions League Draw Dates

Who Will Play in the 2024/25 Champions League?

When the 2023/24 domestic seasons ended, 27 spots for this year’s Champions League were determined. This is the automatic qualification phase, and it’s based on domestic league performances.

Two spots are then awarded to the winners of the Champions League and Europa League, bringing the total to 29.

If the two teams had already qualified domestically (which was the case for Real Madrid and Atalanta), these spots are awarded to other teams through a “rebalancing” formula.

Essentially, it includes awarding the spots to two clubs with the best UEFA coefficients, granted they were already eligible for the Champions League qualification path.

The final games of the qualification phase will be played on 20/21 & 27/28 August 2024.

Here are the 29 teams that have already qualified.

These will be joined by 7 other teams from the qualifying phase to bring the total number of clubs to 36.

Where is the 2024/25 Champions League final?

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League season will take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich on May 31, 2025. This is the home of Germany’s perennial champions, Bayern Munich.

How to Watch The Champions League From Anywhere in The World

The UEFA Champions League is the most prestigious club tournament in the world, and it’s understandably broadcast in all regions. However, its huge appeal also means a bidding war among various broadcasters, which results in high costs for packages that include the competition.

Besides that, broadcasters often share the cost of purchase, meaning games can be distributed between multiple broadcasters. For example, you now need both TNT Sports and Prime Video to watch all Champions League games in the UK. In Belgium, you need RTL, VTM, Proximus, and Play Sports.

This works for UEFA and the broadcasters, but it also means extra cost to the fans.

Fortunately, you can watch the Champions League through a broadcaster of choice using a VPN. Short for Virtual Private Networks, these handy tools allow users from anywhere in the world to change their virtual location by connecting to a VPN server. This gives you a new IP address that corresponds to the server’s location.

For example, if you are in the UK, you can lower the cost of access by subscribing to Paramount Plus. The streaming service only costs $5.99, but it will have all 189 games plus a multicast feed.

All you need to do is connect to a US VPN server and create an account from wherever you are.

The Best VPNs for Watching The Champions League

Streaming services use VPN blocks to abide by licensing restrictions. This means that you need to choose your VPN well, as only a few manage to keep up with the cat-and-mouse game played by streaming services and VPNs.

We’ve done the hard work for you and selected a few of the best streaming VPNs. These will ensure that you can unblock all major streaming services and stream without buffering.

Final Thoughts

The 2024/25 Champions League is set to be the most exciting yet. We have more games, a brand new format with an extra play-off round, and big teams facing off from day 1.

It’s a season that’s expected to draw more fans to the competition, and there are multiple ways you can tune in and cheer for your favorite team.

We’ve explored several of the best streaming services worldwide. You can choose a local one or choose one that better suits your needs and budget. If it’s not available in your region, a VPN will help you find it.

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