European football will have a renewal. At least that's how the Uefa after revealing the new format that the Champions League starting next season, leaving behind the iconic group format.
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The most important club tournament in the world will no longer be the same as the one we know today after a decision by Uefa to expand the number of participating teams and increase the total number of matches in an overwhelming season for players, coaches and clubs.
“To ensure that the new 2024/25 format offers the best for clubs, players and fans, the Uefa has based its design on extensive consultations with key stakeholders in the European football community. The final format, access list and calendar of the European club competitions were approved on May 10, 2022, following the decision of the Uefa on April 19, 2021 to introduce a new competition system,” said the governing body.
How does the format change?
“The fundamental change of the reforms announced by the UEFA Executive Committee is the abandonment of the group stage of the current format. The current Champions League season includes 32 participants divided into eight groups of four. Starting in the 2024/25 season, the 36 participating clubs will compete in a league stage of the Champions League (the former group stage) to give four more teams the opportunity to compete against the best clubs in Europe. These 36 teams will participate in a single league competition in which they will all compete in a common classification,” explains Uefa.
With this format, the teams will play eight games in a league phase (formerly the group phase). “They will no longer play three rivals twice (home and away), but instead will face eight different teams, half of them playing at home and half away. To determine the eight rivals, the teams will initially be divided into four pots. Each team will then face two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against one team from each pot at home and one away.”
And Uefa adds: “In this way, clubs will have the opportunity to face a greater number of rivals and increases the chances of fans of seeing the best teams face each other more often in the early stages of the competition. It will also give lead to more competitive matches for all clubs.
Classifieds
“Qualification for the Champions League will remain open and will depend on the final position of the clubs in the domestic competitions of the previous season combined with the position of each association in the club coefficient classification by association. The basis of the list of Access will remain the same as for the current season, and the four additional places available in 2024/25 will be allocated as follows:
First place: this place will go to the club ranked third in the federation championship in fifth position on the access list, which is determined by the coefficient ranking of clubs by federations Uefa.
Second place: This place is awarded to the national champion, expanding from four to five the number of clubs classified via the champions route of the competition's qualification process, which will consist of four qualifying rounds.
Third and fourth place: These places will go to the associations with the best collective performance of their clubs in the previous season (i.e. the coefficient of clubs by associations from the previous season, which is based on the total number of points of club coefficient obtained by each club in a federation divided by the number of participating clubs in that federation).
“Each of these two federations will award an automatic place in the league phase ('European Performance Place') to the highest ranked club in its national league behind the clubs that have already qualified directly for the league phase.”
Round of 16
The results of each match will decide the overall standings of the new league, with three points awarded for a win and one for a draw. “The top eight teams will automatically advance to the round of 16, while the teams placed between 9th and 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off tie to secure a place in the round of 16 of the competition. The teams that finish 25º or below will be eliminated, without access to the UEFA Europa League.
The new format, with all teams qualified together in a single league, will mean there is more to play for until the final night of the league stage.
In the play-off knockout phase, the teams ranked between 9th and 16th place will be seeded in the draw, which means that they will face a team ranked between 17th and 24th place with, in principle, the back home. The eight clubs that win in these qualifying rounds will advance to the round of 16, where they will face one of the top eight finishers, who will be seeded in the round of 16.”
“To reinforce the synergy between the league phase and the knockout phase, and to provide a greater sporting incentive during the league phase, the knockout phase pairings will also be determined in part by the league phase classification, with a draw that It will also determine and trace the teams' path to the final.
From the round of 16 onwards, the competition follows the current format of the knockout round leading up to a final at a neutral venue selected by the Uefa.
“All matches leading up to the final will continue to be played midweek, recognizing the importance of the national match schedule across Europe, while the final will continue to be played on a Saturday.”
It should be remembered that the Champions League matches will be played between September and January and will not be played simultaneously with any of the other two Uefa competitions (Europa League and Conference League). Each one will be played in a different week.
The Champions League draw is this Thursday.
Benefits of the new Champions League
The new league format will involve more European teams in each competition and will allow fans to not only watch more top European matches, but also for those matches to be held earlier in the competition.
The new format will introduce a greater competitive balance between all teams, with the possibility of each of them facing rivals of a similar competitive level throughout the league phase.
Every match counts. The new league format will ensure that every result has the potential to radically change the team's position right up to the final matchday. Winning or losing the last match of the league phase can make the difference between a team qualifying directly for the round of 16, entering the play-offs, or being eliminated from the tournament permanently.
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