UEFA has announced a new format for the 2024-25 edition of the Champions League, which will see a significant change in the group stage format and the number of teams taking part in the tournament.
From the 2024-25 season onwards, 36 clubs will participate in a single league phase, instead of the present group stage format where 32 participants are divided into eight groups of four.
Under the new format, teams will play eight matches in the new league phase (former group stage). They will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and the other half away.
To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away.
How will the four extra teams for the league phase be selected?
While the qualification for the competition will continue to remain dependent on a club’s final position in the previous season’s domestic league competition, combined with each association’s position in the club coefficient ranking, the four additional slot will be decided as follows:
SLOT ONE: The club ranked third in the championship of the association in fifth position in the access list, which is determined by the UEFA association club coefficient ranking.
SLOT TWO: This place will be awarded to a domestic champion by extending from four to five the number of clubs qualifying via the Champions path of the competition’s qualifying process, consisting of four qualifying rounds.
SLOT THREE AND FOUR: These places will go to the two associations with the best collective performance by their clubs in the previous season, and the next best-ranked clubs behind the ones that have already qualified from these associations will receive a spot in the league phase.
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How will the teams for the knockout phase be decided?
The top eight teams after the league phase will qualify for the knockout rounds while the teams ranked 9th to 24th will take part in two-legged playoffs to secure a spot in the round of 16. The 9th to 16th ranked teams will be seeded in the knockout phase play-off draw, meaning they will face a team placed 17th to 24th – with, in principle, the return leg at home.
The eight teams that qualify will each face one of the top-eight finishers.
Teams that finish 25th or lower in the league phase will be eliminated, with no access to the UEFA Europa League.
From the round of 16 onwards, the competition will continue to follow its existing format of knockout rounds leading to the final staged at a neutral venue selected by UEFA.
What about the Europa League and Europa Conference League?
The same format changes will also be applied to the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, which will be called the UEFA Conference League as of 2024/25, with both competitions also featuring 36 teams in the league phase.
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