Champions Sturm will face RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund as well as Europa League winners Atalanta Bergamo, among others, in the premier class. Salzburg can look forward to duels with defending champions Real Madrid, Paris St. Germain and Bayer Leverkusen. The first matchday will take place in mid-September (17th-19th).
In an entertaining and largely computer-controlled draw, the Graz team, which is in pool four, was given home games against RB Leipzig (Pot 1), Club Brugge (2), Sporting Lisbon (3) and Girona (4). Coach Christian Ilzer’s team will play away against Marcel Sabitzer’s BVB (1), Bergamo (2), Lille (3) and Brest (4) in France. This means there will be plenty of deja-vus for Sturm this year, as the Styrian team already had Atalanta, Sporting and Lille as opponents last season.
Vice-champion Salzburg, which was in pot three, has home advantage against Paris Saint-Germain (1), Atletico Madrid (2), Dinamo Zagreb (3) and also Brest. Coach Pepijn Lijnders’ team has to travel to David Alaba’s Real (1), Leverkusen (2), Gernot Trauner’s Feyenoord Rotterdam (3) and Sparta Prague (4).
Since the new league phase has no groups and 36 instead of 32 clubs, the format is different. The twelve teams with the fewest points are eliminated. The teams in positions 9 to 24 fight in play-offs for a place in the round of 16. The top eight are guaranteed a place in the round of 16. The round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will then be decided as usual in two games, and the final in one. There is no longer a switch to the Europa League.
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Storm Graz
- Pot 1: RB Leipzig (home), Borussia Dortmund (away)
- T2: Club Brugge (h), Atalanta Bergamo (a)
- T3: Sporting Lissabon (h), OSC Lille (a)
- T4: Girona (h), Brest (a)
Red Bull Salzburg
- Pot 1: Paris St. Germain (h), Real Madrid (a)
- T2: Atletico Madrid (h), Bayer Leverkusen (a)
- T3: Dinamo Zagreb (h), Feyenoord Rotterdam (a)
- T4: Brest (h), Sparta Prag (a)
Game details:
- 1st round 17-19 September
- 2nd round 1/2 October
- 3rd round 22/23 October
- 4th round 5/6 November
- 5th round 26/27 November
- 6th round 10/11 December
- 7th round 21/22 January 2025
- 8th round 29 January 2025
