What is the new Champions League format?
The new Champions League format will be different. As mentioned above, we will have 36 teams, and all the teams will participate in the same rankings list. That does not mean that everyone plays each other like the regular competitions mainly do.
There will be 36 teams participating, opening up more opportunities for clubs from smaller leagues to participate in the competition. This is important to promote inclusivity and diversity.
Instead of the traditional group stage format, the new Champions League will feature a ‘Swiss model’ format. Under this system, the 36 participating teams will be placed into one league table, where each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents, four home and four away. Home and away versus the same opponents will not happen during the group stage. One important aspect is that the final two rounds of this group stage will take place after the winter break.
The idea behind this new format, including the league list, is that there will be more top-level matches earlier in the season. For example, Real Madrid—Manchester City, or FC Barcelona—FC Bayern Munich. The bigger clubs will play each other more often this way. At least, that is the idea. This is more interesting for fans and clubs.Besides that, every match counts as you compete against 36 teams!
Alright, there will be more teams participating and a new ranking system. Now what? After every team has played eight matches, eight teams will proceed directly to the knockout stage. The teams ranked 9th to 24th will be playing an extra round. Half of these teams will proceed to the knockout stages, and the other half will be eliminated. This means 16 teams will battle each other in the knockout stages. Teams ranked 25th to 36th are out of the tournament and will not proceed to the Europa League.
The UEFA said the following: “In the knockout phase, the teams which finished between 9th and 16th 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 clubs which prevail in the knockout phase play-offs will then progress to the round of 16, where they will each face one of the top-eight finishers, who will be seeded in the round of 16. To strengthen the synergy between the league and knockout phases and to provide more sporting incentives during the league phase, the pairings of the knockout phase will also be partly determined by the league phase rankings, with a draw which likewise determines and lays out the route for teams to reach the final”. EUFA (2024)
The round of 16 and later in the knockout phase will follow the same format as the current format.
More teams, more (top-level) matches.