The UEFA Champions League has a brand new expanded format for the 2024-25 season and it takes some explaining. So, let’s get to it.
The draw for the league phase (replacing group stage) took place on Thursday, August 29, with each of the 36 sides handed eight games against eight different teams — four at home, four away. Each side will play two teams each from all four pots determined by coefficient points.
How will the Champions League format change from 2024/25?
The pivotal change in the reforms announced by the UEFA Executive Committee is the departure from the current format’s group stage system. The present Champions League group stage includes 32 participants divided into eight groups of four. From the 2024/25 season, 36 clubs will participate in the Champions League league phase (former group stage), giving four more sides the opportunity to compete against the best clubs in Europe. Those 36 clubs will participate in a single league competition in which all 36 competing clubs are ranked together.
Under the new format, teams will play eight matches in the new league phase (former group stage). They will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away. To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away.
This gives the opportunity for clubs to test themselves against a wider range of opponents and raises the prospect for fans of seeing the top teams go head to head more often and earlier in the competition. It will also result in more competitive matches for every club across the board.
Why change it?
In theory, it kills off some of the less meaningful games which often feature clubs which have already been eliminated before the end of the current group stage. The “Swiss” model follows similar formats to popular events such as Esports which has been crossing over with professional soccer for years already.
However, claiming this as solely an organizational adjustment is not totally accurate — more teams means more games and more games means more broadcast revenue. Basically, more money for all involved given that the current fixture format is going to balloon by over 60% with the new setup. This is not necessarily good news when you look at the worrying trend of serious injuries growing before this taxing new system has even been put into place.
Champions League group stage draw Date…
The draw for the Champions League group stage took place at 12pm ET on Thursday, August 29 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
When and where is the 2024-25 Champions League final?
The Champions League final will take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich on May 31, 2025.
Where do the 4 extra teams come from?
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.
2 places will go to the best performing leagues in Europe in this current season, known as European Performance Spots. The place goes to the next team in the league which has not automatically qualified. Last season, that would have been Liverpool and Atalanta. These places are most likely go to clubs from the top leagues.
How will they decide the fixtures?
UEFA will create four pots of nine teams. The UCL titleholders will be in Pot 1, with all other pots filled according to the five-year club coefficient.
Each team will play two teams from each pot (one home, one away) to create an eight-match fixture list of roughly equal strength.
More “big matches” are created by the teams in the top pots being drawn against each other, which wasn’t possible under the current system
This is how the seeding pots would look, based on a 36-team Champions League intake using the new system and the teams who would have qualified in the 2023-24 season.
Pot 1: Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, Barcelona, Inter, Sevilla
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, Benfica, Napoli, FC Porto, Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, FC Salzburg
Pot 3: Atalanta, Feyenoord, AC Milan, Braga, PSV Eindhoven, Lazio, Red Star Belgrade, FC Copenhagen, Young Boys
Pot 4: Real Sociedad, Marseille, Galatasaray, Celtic, Molde, Newcastle United, Union Berlin, Antwerp, Lens.
What are the Champions League knockout stage dates?
An extra knockout round has been created, as the teams who finish in spots 9-24 in the league phase will play two-legged ties to reach the Round of 16 where they will face one of the top eight teams from the league phase who qualified automatically for the Round of 16.
Matchday 1: Sept. 17-19
Matchday 2: Oct. 1-2
Matchday 3: Oct. 22-23
Matchday 4: Nov. 5-6
Matchday 5: Nov. 26-27
Matchday 6: Dec. 10-11
Matchday 7: Jan. 21-22
Matchday 8: Jan. 29 (all 18 games played simultaneously)
Knockout round: Feb. 11-12 / 18-19
Round of 16: March 4-5 / 11-12
Quarterfinals: April 8-9 / 15-16
Semifinals: April 29-30 / May 6-7.
When will matches be played?
The Champions League league stage matches will be played from September to January. Most weeks they will be played on a Tuesday or a Wednesday.
However, there will be one Champions League exclusive week (which will see no Europa League or Conference League fixtures scheduled) that will include Thursday as a matchday.
For the last matchday of the league stage, all 18 matches will be played simultaneously.
Matchday 1: 17–19 September 2024
Matchday 2: 1/2 October 2024
Matchday 3: 22/23 October 2024
Matchday 4: 5/6 November 2024
Matchday 5: 26/27 November 2024
Matchday 6: 10/11 December 2024
Matchday 7: 21/22 January 2025
Matchday 8: 29 January 2025
Teams in the league stage
England: City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa
Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Atletico Madrid
Germany: Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern, Leipzig, Dortmund
Italy: Inter, Milan, Bologna, Juventus, Atalanta (Europa League winner)
France: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Brest, Lille
Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord
Portugal: Sporting CP, Benfica
Austria: Red Bull Salzburg, Sturm Graz
Belgium: Club Brugge
Scotland: Celtic
Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk
Czechia: Sparta Prague
Switzerland: Young Boys
Serbia: Red Star Belgrade
Slovakia: Slovan Bratislava
Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb.
Visualize it for me…
Breaking it down into its simplest format:
- A 36-team “league” ranked by a single table.
- With eight games played against two teams from four different pots.
- The top eight-ranked team advance to the regular UCL round of 16.
- Positions nine to 24 go into a two-legged play-off to reach the round of 16.
- Eight playoff winners continue in the UCL round of 16 while the losers are eliminated.
- Positions 25 to 36 are eliminated from all forms of European soccer for the season.
- Familiar two-legged knockout format of round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals returns to produce two finalists.
The new format, which has been dubbed the “Swiss” system, will feature 36 clubs in its group stage — so four more than the current model — and those teams will participate in one big table, which will now be known as the “league stage” instead of the group stage.
Three points for a win and one point for a draw is still the scoring method and fixtures will be arranged in a draw which sees the 36 teams organized across four pots of nine and every club will face two teams from each of the other pots. Teams will play eight games during this stage, up from six.
After eight games, the top eight will directly reach the round of 16 while teams in ninth to 24th will go into a playoff round which sees each tie play out over two legs. The playoff winners also make it to the round of 16 while the losers are eliminated along with the clubs that failed to make the playoffs. At that point, the familiar knockout format returns and the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final is the UCL roadmap that every competitor will be following.
How will the new Champions League format benefit fans?
- The new league format will involve more European teams in each competition and will allow fans to not only see more top European matches but also to see those matches take place earlier in the competition.
- The new format will introduce a better competitive balance between all the teams, with the possibility for each team to play opponents of a similar competitive level throughout the league phase.
- Every game counts. The new league format will ensure that any result has the potential to dramatically change a team’s position, right up to and including the very last matchday. Winning or losing the last game of the league phase could make the difference between a side qualifying automatically for the last 16, entering the play-offs or being eliminated from the competition altogether.
The top eight teams in the league phase will qualify for the Round of 16 automatically, while the teams who finish in positions 9-24 will qualify for the knockout round. Teams who finish in positions 25-36 will be eliminated from the Champions League and will not play in any other European competition for the rest of the 2024-25 season.
Conclusion
As the revamped Champions League unfolds, fans worldwide eagerly anticipate thrilling encounters, surprise upsets, and unforgettable moments. The Swiss model breathes new life into Europe’s premier club competition, ensuring that football’s magic never stands still.
Stay tuned for a season like no other!
