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Champions League draw: Ibrahimovic and Kaka in Monaco showdown!
The Champions League draw took place in Monaco on August 28, 2025, hosted by Ibrahimovic and Kaka. Various exciting encounters lie ahead.
Champions League draw: Ibrahimovic and Kaka in Monaco showdown!
On August 28, 2025, the highly anticipated UEFA Champions League draw took place in Monaco. This season the tournament will be held without an Austrian participant for the first time since 2018/19. The role of “raffle fairy” was taken on by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was supported in the draw by special software developed by Kaka. These innovations mark the beginning of another chapter in the history of the prestigious competition.
The group stage sees supposedly difficult opponents for Bayern Munich: the German record champions face Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Chelsea. PSG, for its part, has to hold its own against Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham. Real Madrid, the record winner of the competition with 15 titles, has several exciting duels ahead of them. In addition to Manchester City, Liverpool and Monaco, they also have to face Kazakh newcomers Almaty.
Insights into the new group phase
What is particularly noticeable is that Bodö/Glimt, who beat Sturm Graz last year, will play home games against Manchester City, Juventus and Monaco. Bruges, who eliminated runners-up Salzburg, also face a strong table mix and play against Barcelona, Bayern and Arsenal. The schedule for these rounds should be decided by Saturday at the latest, and the first round of the league phase will take place from September 16th to 18th, 2025.
Each team gets two opponents from four pots and therefore has to play four home and four away games. In addition, duels between clubs from the same country are excluded. The best eight teams qualify directly for the round of 16, while the clubs in places 9 to 24 fight to advance in an intermediate round. The teams in places 25 to 36, however, end their international season in this edition of the Champions League.
The background of the draw
The Champions League draw was not only sportingly charged, but also politically charged. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin took the opportunity to call Zlatan Ibrahimovic a "smart-ass" during the event after Ibrahimovic tried to make a connection to the controversial Super League. Ceferin warned him not to talk about Super League competition during a nearly five-minute long video clip, which also featured other football legends such as Gianluigi Buffon and Luis Figo. The creation of this league has led to significant conflict in European football in recent years.
Although the Super League has disappeared from the headlines in recent months, the prospect of the Champions League following the reform and the new mode remains important for many fans and clubs. The competition is not only a sporting event, but also has an economic impact, with numerous bonuses for the participating clubs.
The UEFA Champions League, which has been held under this name since 1992/93 and was previously known as the “European Cup”, is the highest level for European club teams. Success in this competition not only brings glory, but also an opportunity to qualify for other prestigious tournaments such as the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. With the start of the new season, there is great anticipation for the upcoming games.
For more information about the Champions League and the disruptive influences that can accompany this great event, we refer you to the detailed reports from vienna.at, Sports1 and Wikipedia.