Bayern’s opponents for Champions League’s league phase

Bayern have a number of hugely exciting fixtures ahead of them in the 2024/25 Champions League season, which begins with the new league phase featuring eight games. Four of those are at the Allianz Arena against Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Dinamo Zagreb and Slovan Bratislava. The four away trips pit Vincent Kompany's men against Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk, Feyenoord and Aston Villa.

The exact running order and dates for the games will be confirmed by UEFA on Saturday, 31 August. Tickets for specific home and away matches can then be requested. 

Find out more about Bayern's eight opponents here...

Paris Saint-Germain (H)

We’ll see another edition of a Champions League classic. Bayern and PSG have already met 13 times before in this competition, with FCB just ahead with seven wins to six. Among those encounters is, of course, the 2020 final in Lisbon, where Bayern beat the Parisians 1-0. France’s reigning champions also made it to the semis last season alongside Bayern but were knocked out by Borussia Dortmund.

Barcelona (A)

Barcelona ended last season’s LaLiga campaign in second place behind Real Madrid and went out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals after a 6-4 aggregate loss to PSG. Like the Parisians, Bayern have also met Barcelona 13 times before in the Champions League, with the Bavarians very much boasting the historical advantage with 10 wins. The Catalans have two victories to their name, plus one draw. Former Bayern boss Hansi Flick took over the five-time European champions in the summer.

Benfica (H)

The last encounter with Benfica was only three years ago, with Bayern winning both group games to extend their excellent record of nine wins and three draws from 12 European meetings against the Portuguese side. Under coach Roger Schmidt, the Lisbon club finished as runners-up in the Primeira Liga last season to qualify for the Champions League for the 19th time in their history.

Shakhtar Donetsk (A)

Hailing from the east of Ukraine, Shakhtar can’t play their home games in their own stadium due to Russia’s attack on their country and will therefore host Bayern at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen. It means a special return home for former Schalke player Manuel Neuer, who left his hometown club for Munich in 2011. It’s the Ukrainian champions’ 19th appearance in the Champions League but will be only their third game against Bayern. The pair played out a goalless draw in the first leg of the 2014/15 round of 16 before a comfortable 7-0 win for FCB back at the Allianz Arena.

Dinamo Zagreb (H)

Croatia's record champions won the title for the 25th time this summer and later qualified for the Champions League for the 10th time in total thanks to two wins against Qarabag in the play-offs. They previously met Bayern in the group stage of the 2015/16 season, with the Munich side coming out on top on both occasions. Dinamo also reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1962/63.

Feyenoord (A)

Feyenoord finished second in the Eredivisie last season to qualify for the Champions League. This is the Dutch side's eighth appearance in the European Cup, having already won the trophy once before (1969/70). The Rotterdam club have previously played two matches against Bayern in the Champions League, with FCB first taking a point away from home (2-2) before winning the home fixture 3-1 in the 2001/02 group stage.

Slovan Bratislava (H)

Bayern welcome a newcomer to Europe’s elite club competition in Slovan Bratislava. After winning the title in Slovakia, Wladimír Weiss's team emerged victorious from the long road through the qualifiers. Slovan eliminated Struga from Macedonia, Celje from Slovenia, APOEL Nicosia from Cyprus and Midtjylland from Denmark to become Slovakia's fourth Champions League participant overall and the first since Žilina 14 years ago. This will be a continental first for Bayern, having never faced the club Bratislava before.

Aston Villa (A)

Aston Villa also make an appearance in the top European competition for the first time since the Champions League was founded in 1992. However, the Premier League club has won the European Cup before, in fact beating Bayern 1-0 in the final in 1982. That game in Rotterdam is still the only time these two teams have met. The club from the Birmingham suburb of Aston had a stellar season in England last term, finishing in fourth place ahead of heavyweights such as Manchester United and Chelsea.

New format for Champions League

The number of teams has been increased by four from 32 to 36. There is no longer a group stage (previously eight groups of four) but one league phase. Each team will play eight games against eight different opponents, with four at home and four away. This is determined in the draw. All points earned as a result go into one overall league table. At the end of the eight matchdays, the top eight teams progress straight to the round of 16. The remaining eight places in the knockout round will be determined in a two-legged play-off that pits teams who finish from ninth to 16th against those who came 17th to 24th. The teams who finish higher will have the second leg at home. The eight winners will advance to the last 16 to join the original top eight teams, who will be seeded for the draw for the round of 16. That will take place the same day as the draw for the quarter and semi-finals. The competition continues as in previous years from the round of 16.