A new chapter in the history of the Champions League is about to begin. Approved on 10th May 2022, the new format of European football's premier club competition will come into force for the forthcoming 2024/25 season.

The new format puts an end to the traditional group stage contested by 32 teams and opens its doors to four additional participants, who will join a single-pool championship in which each team will face eight different opponents - with four home and four away matches. This represents a major change which, according to UEFA, will give fans the chance to watch more top-level matches before the knockout phase and ensure that participating clubs face competitive teams throughout the tournament.

While this news may not have gone down well with fans or certain clubs, the die has now been cast and a return to the past does not appear to be on the agenda. And if the argument of competitiveness has indeed been put forward, there can be no doubt that the favourites to join the prestigious list of competition winners will be the same usual suspects. Here's everything you need to know about the final of this new-look competition.

Champions League Final 2025 Date

One week after the Premier League's conclusion

The Champions League 2025 final will be played on 31st May 2025. It will mark the 70th anniversary of the competition, and the 33rd since its re-naming as the UEFA Champions League. This late-spring setting has now become customary, with European football's governing body almost always scheduling the fixture for the last Saturday in May or the first in June.

The most memorable exception in recent years was the 2019/20 campaign, when the final took place on 23rd August 2020, as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic. It should be noted that the date of 31st May 2025 was also chosen to give clubs and their players two weeks' "rest" before many of them commit to the new Club World Cup, to be held from 15th June to 13th July 2025.

A total of 12 European clubs will be involved in the hotly controversial competition which is set to be held in the USA. Premier League sides Chelsea and Manchester City are all expected to take part in the competition. Only six days separate the final weekend of England's top-flight campaign and the Champions League final before the Club World Cup quickly gets underway. Reigning Champions League holders Real Madrid are also expected to take part in the competition, even though manager Carlo Ancelotti initially claimed that the club would "refuse the invitation".

Champions League Final 2025 Venue

The scene of an infamous upset

Germany's Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich, has been chosen to host the 2025 Champions League final. However, it should be noted that the Munich stadium had initially been designated to host the 2022 Champions League final. However, in June 2024, as the COVID-19 virus hit Europe with full force, the UEFA Executive Committee decided to move the 2020 final to Lisbon rather than Istanbul. This decision had an impact on the organization of the next host cities, all of which agreed to postpone their initial commitments.

As for its history, the stadium, which can accommodate between 70,000 and 75,000 spectators, notably hosted the 2012 Champions League final, which was won by Chelsea at the expense of the Allianz Arena's inhabitants, Bayern Munich. The Bavarian club's sporting director Christian Nerlinger described the shock loss as "a nightmare".

That night at home, Jupp Heynckes' men thought they were heading for the title after Thomas Muller had opened the scoring in the 83rd minute. But they were no match for the resilience of their London rivals, who levelled five minutes later through Didier Drogba's now-legendary stoppage-time header. Unable to settle the tie at the end of extra time, the two giants had to do so in the fateful penalty shootout. The unfancied visitors, fresh from finishing sixth in the Premier League, came out on top, with Drogba - again - scoring the fifth and final penalty to give the Blues their first European title.

The Allianz Arena has already hosted several major footballing events, including six matches at the 2006 World Cup, including the semi-final between Portugal and France, four Euro 2020 matches and six Euro 2024 matches, including one of the two semi-finals. However, the Allianz Arena was not the first German stadium to host a Champions League final. In the past, Munich's Olympiastadion (1979, 1993, 1997), Stuttgart's Neckarstadion (1988), the Arena AufSchalke (2004) and Berlin's Olympiastadion (2015) have also hosted finals of the star-studded competition.

In seven Champions League finals held in Germany, clubs from England (Nottingham Forest, Chelsea), Spain (Barcelona), the Netherlands (PSV Eindhoven), France (Olympique de Marseille), and Portugal (FC Porto) have all triumphed. Only one German side has ever lifted the famous big-eared trophy on home soil - and Borussia Dortmund's triumph in 1997 came at the home of their rivals, Bayern Munich.

Champions League Trophy

The winners don't get to keep 'Big Ears' anymore

Unlike the competition format, the mythical Champions League trophy will remain unchanged. A cup that has become legendary, nicknamed the "Big Ears" because of its huge handles, was only introduced at the end of the 1966/67 edition. The original design was left with Real Madrid, who had won the first five editions of the competition. Scottish side Celtic were the first to hoist aloft a famous design which was commissioned at the request of Hans Bergerter, UEFA General Secretary. The Swiss manufacturer Jorg Stadelmann put in no less than 340 hours of work to craft the coveted prize.

Since 2006, however, the Bertoni company (which has also forged the World Cup, Europa League, European Supercup and African Cup of Nations trophies) has been responsible for making the piece of silverware. Made entirely of silver, it measures 73.5 centimetres in height and weighs 7.5 kilograms.

Prior to 2009, there were only two ways for the winner of the competition to keep the trophy: winning five Champions Leagues overall or three in a row. In the past, only five clubs have had the right to keep the precious pot: Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Liverpool. For a number of practical reasons, those days are over - as stated in article 11.01 of the UEFA rule book:

"The original trophy, which is used for the official presentation ceremony at the final and at other official events approved by UEFA, remains in UEFA's keeping and ownership at all times."

Nevertheless, the winner of each edition receives an exact replica of the trophy. It is interesting to note that the old name of the competition, the European Champion Clubs' Cup, still appears on the front of the trophy. The inscription is written in French, reflecting the competition's origins. This same language is used in the mythical Champions League anthem, sung in all three of UEFA's official languages: French, German and English.

Latest Ticket Information

Large number of seats taken up by non-fans

At the time of writing, no official information has yet been announced by UEFA regarding the purchase of tickets for the 2025 final. When seats do become available, they can be purchased via the websites of the two finalist clubs, as well as on UEFA's official ticketing platform.

To get an idea of how much fans will have to spend to secure a place in the Allianz Arena, it's worth taking a look at the tickets allocated for the 2024 final. Last April, UEFA announced the prices of seats at Wembley - excluding boxes.

These are just the official prices which, as usual, will undoubtedly soar on the various resale platforms, given the ever-increasing demand from the general public. It should be noted that only 60,000 tickets out of a capacity of 86,600 were available to fans for the 2024 final. The remaining seats were held back for various UEFA delegates. For the 2025 final, prices should therefore be more or less the same, although a possible increase is to be expected due to the lower capacity of the Allianz Arena.