New Champions League Format: Breaking Down the Changes Ahead of the 2024/25 Season

And just like that, the curtain falls on the group stages of the UEFA Champions League for 2023.

Titans have been toppled, reducing 32 teams to just 16, with some incredible matches unfolding in the process.

It's noteworthy that this marks the final week of the UEFA Champions League group stage in its current format.

Starting from the next season, Europe's biggest club competition will adopt a new format, accommodating 36 teams instead of the current 32, per UEFA.

The expansion of participating teams is just one aspect of the forthcoming changes.

Sports Brief gives a comprehensive overview of how the Champions League will be structured in the upcoming season.

Revised format for UEFA Champions League

As mentioned, the tournament is expanding to accommodate 36 teams, and the traditional format of eight groups of four will be replaced by a single league comprising all 36 teams.

However, this doesn't imply every team will face each other. Instead, the 'Swiss Model', commonly utilised in chess, will be implemented. Each club will engage in eight fixtures, with four played at home and four played away.

At the start of the season, fixtures will be pre-determined and teams will be categorised into four pots, each containing nine teams, per Diario AS.

Pot 1 will include the current season's Champions League winner and the top eight teams with the best coefficients. Pots 2 to 4 will also be organised based on coefficients.

In the draw, each team will be paired with two teams from each pot - one for a home match and one for an away match.

Consequently, every team in Pot 1, comprising some of the most prominent clubs in Europe, will face two other sides from the same pot.

Typically, clubs from the same country will avoid being drawn against each other. However, if a country boasts four or more clubs, there's a possibility of one match featuring teams from the same nation.

In essence, this translates to an increase in the number of games in Europe for the upcoming season. While the current season features a total of 125 Champions League games, the next season is set to host 189 matches in Europe's premier competition.

Qualification for the new Champions League

The top eight teams in the final table secure automatic entry to the last 16, while teams ranking ninth to 24th engage in a two-legged playoff for a spot in the knockout stage. Teams placing 25th to 36th will be eliminated.

Starting next season, there will be no drop from the Champions League to the Europa League for eliminated teams. Additionally, a single knockout round draw will occur from the round of 16 onwards, with seeding based on group stage standings.

Country protection is eliminated, allowing teams from the same country to face each other, and teams will know their potential route to the final before their Round of 16 matches.

Determining the four additional UCL clubs

With the expansion of the competition from 32 to 36 teams, four additional teams will be included.

Two of these teams will be from the two best-performing countries this season, awarded to the highest finishers in their domestic leagues that haven't automatically qualified.

The third spot goes to the team that finished third in the league ranked fifth in the UEFA coefficient table, and the fourth spot is reserved for the qualifying path for champions, increasing from four to five teams next season.

Notably, this spot can't be claimed by a team from the top 10 European leagues, potentially benefiting clubs like Shakhtar Donetsk with a high European club coefficient.

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Both the Europa League and the Europa Conference League will adopt a similar format, expanding from 32 teams to 36. The Europa League will consist of eight group-stage games, while the Conference League will have six.

Playoffs will still be in place for teams finishing ninth to 24th, and there will be no relegation from the Europa League to the Europa Conference League.

Why was the Champions League changed?

As for why these changes have been implemented, an increased number of games translates to higher revenue, benefiting both UEFA and the participating clubs.

The anticipation is that pitting the major teams against each other in the earlier stages will inject greater excitement into the tournament right from the beginning.

Next season's UEFA Champions League is set to feature a total of 189 games, excluding the qualifying rounds, marking a significant increase of 64 games from the current format.

To accommodate these additional matches within the schedule, the group stage will conclude in January instead of the customary December timeframe.

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