

The number of clubs will be raised from 32 to 36. The new format means teams are guaranteed a minimum of eight games, and most will play at least 10.Ģ places will go to the best performing leagues in Europe in this current season. It has been used in football in other competitions with a large number of participants, including in the Concacaf Nations League qualifying competition where all teams played four matches but the results were fed into one league of 34 nations. The chess format decides a team's next opponents after each set of games, whereas in the Champions League all group stage fixtures will be known at the start of the season. It is based on the Swiss-system tournament used in chess, whereby each team does not play all of the others. Rather than teams being drawn into eight groups of four, as is the case now, all clubs are placed into one giant table based on points, and then goal difference. The group stage will now finish at the end of January, rather than in December. It means two extra matchdays will be needed for the Champions League group stage. However, that has now been scaled back to eight group stage fixtures, meaning a total of 189 games in the season.

Under the original plan proposed in 2021, the tournament was to almost double in size, from a total of 125 games to 225, with each team playing 10 games in the group stage. The top teams also want to play more meaningful games against their main rivals, which this should create at an earlier stage of the Champions League. More games equals more money, and the biggest clubs always take a larger slice of the broadcasting revenues. How the UCL knockout phase will lean on Grand Slam tennis Why is this all happening? It means it's important where you finish in the table the higher you are, the more favourable knockout route you will have - on paper at least.

There will be only one knockout-round draw for the round of 16 onwards, with teams seeded based upon their final league-phase position and no country protection. Once eliminated, your European season is over. Unlike in previous seasons, there is no drop down of teams from the Champions League to the Europa League after the league phase. There is no country protection in any of the knockout rounds. Positions 25 to 36 are eliminated from Europe. Positions nine to 24 will enter a playoff to earn the other eight places in the round of 16. However, to avoid deadlocking, the leagues with four or more clubs could play one match against another team from the same country.įrom the final table, the top eight go direct to the round of 16. So, unlike in the current format, a club in Pot 1 will play a game against two other clubs from Pot 1.Īs a general rule, clubs from the same association will not be drawn against each other. Pots 2 to 4 are ordered on club coefficient.Įach club will be drawn to play two teams from each pot - one home, one away. The champions of the top domestic leagues and the UEL titleholders will no longer be prioritised for Pot 1. Pot 1 will have the titleholders of the UCL and the eight clubs with the best coefficients. The 36 teams will be divided into four pots of nine. There will still be a draw at start of the season, but only to create the league-phase fixtures: eight games for each club, four at home and four away. The old (current) format saw 32 clubs divided into eight groups of four teams. What's going to be different about the Champions League?įrom next season, 36 clubs will take part in the Champions League and they will all be in one big league table.
Europa conference league pots full#
It's going to be a dramatic departure from what fans are used to, so here's a full breakdown of what this means for football's top club competition. UEFA has confirmed how the Champions League (UCL) will look from the 2024-25 season, when it will move to a 36-team tournament.
Europa conference league pots upgrade#
You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĬhampions League format: How it will work from 2024-25
