UEFA champions league 24/25: all you need to know about the new format

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UEFA champions league 24/25: all you need to know about the new format

The 2023/2024 Uefa Champions League (UCL) group phase saw the last of such in the competition’s history. Ahead of the next season, Europe’s premier competition as we know it will adopt a new format tagged the “swiss format”.

In principle, the current format sees 32 teams battle it out across eight groups. The best two qualify to the first knockout rounds (round 16) and thereon to the final stage.

While the third placed team drops to the next tier European competition — the Europa League. 

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The new Champions League format will house 36 teams in its group stage, four more than the current 32. These teams will battle it out in a single ranking league system in place of the usual group stage.

The 36 teams will be seeded in four pots with each team pegged to play two games against teams from each of the other three pots.

After eight games, the top eight teams will qualify directly for the round of 16, while teams ranked ninth through 24th will enter a playoff round. The teams ranked 25th through 36th will be eliminated from the competition.

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The playoff round will be contested over two legs, with the winners advancing to the round of 16. From that point on, the competition will follow the traditional knockout format, with the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final.

So, even though there will be some changes to the group stage, the knockout format remains largely the same.

The four additional Champions League spots are highly coveted by domestic leagues. France’s Ligue 1 and the Netherlands’ Eredivisie, among others, are competing for these coveted positions.

The league that is ranked fifth in UEFA’s domestic league ranking is currently France, so they are set to receive one of the new spots. In addition, there is a “Champions Path” spot, which will go to the league winner from smaller nations that have made it through the qualifying rounds.

Finally, there are two spots for the two highest-ranking clubs in UEFA’s coefficient ranking who have not qualified for the Champions League through their domestic leagues.

This new format is intended to protect top European clubs from financial losses due to not qualifying for the Champions League, as it will no longer be guaranteed that they can earn a spot based on their domestic league performance alone.

It is expected to increase competition and excitement for fans, and ensure that the top clubs in Europe are well represented in the competition.