What is the new Champions League Format?
Not long until the biggest club competition on the planet returns, with the 2024/25 edition of the Champions League kicking off on 17th September. The big kick-off is always a key date in the diary for fans of the beautiful game, but things will look a little different this time.
Following a comprehensive re-jig of the format, UEFA has thrown out the four teams per section Group Stage - which had been in place since the 1992/93 season - and increased the number of teams beyond 32 for the first time since 1998/99. More teams mean more games, and here we look at how it's going to work.
32 Becomes 36
This year, the Champions League really is bigger than ever, as 36 teams set foot on the path to the final at the Allianz Arena on 31st May 2025. That represents an increase of four from previous years, with the additional spots awarded as follows:
- One extra place available via the qualifying rounds
- One extra place awarded to Europe’s fifth highest-rated league, i.e. Ligue 1, which now awards a guaranteed place to the top three sides
- One extra place awarded to the two best-performing nations in European competition in 2023/24 – Germany and Italy
Goodbye Group Stage, Hello League Phase
Rather than splitting into groups of four, the 36 sides will form a single league and follow what is known as the Swiss Format. Each side plays eight games in the League Phase (four home and four away) - up from six per side under the Group format. Unlike in the Group format, where each side played three opponents home and away, the new system will see each team face eight different opponents.
The Group stage may be gone, but UEFA has retained the Pot system, whereby the nine highest-ranked teams are grouped in Pot 1, the next highest nine in Pot 2, and so on, down to Pot 4. These Pots determine the eight fixtures per side, with each team playing two fixtures against two sides from each of the four pots.
There will still be a draw to determine these fixtures, but not as you know it. A real-life human being will pluck a side from Pot 1 before a complex AI algorithm takes over to assign that side's fixtures and create a balance between home and away games using UEFA ranking coefficients. If it all sounds complicated, it is.
Qualifying from the League Phase
Fixtures assigned; we can settle down to the relatively simple task of watching the games. Once all 36 sides have completed their eight fixtures, the top eight sides in the table will automatically make it through to the Last 16, whilst the sides who finish 25th-36th are all eliminated. And this time, eliminated really does mean eliminated, as there is no drop down to the Europa League, as was the case with the third-placed finishers under the old Group Stage system.
The 16 sides who finish 9th – 24th in the League Phase go into a two-legged playoff round to win a place in the Last 16. This stage is seeded so that the 9th and 10th placed League Phase sides will play the teams who finished 23rd or 24th, 11th and 12th will play 21st and 22nd, and so on. The winners of the eight playoff games join the top eight sides from the League Phase in the Last 16.
The Last 16 Onwards
As ever, the Last 16, Quarter-Finals, and Semi-Finals will be two-legged affairs. However, having qualified for the Last 16, sides will immediately see their potential route to the final. Rather than a random draw, the knockout stage will utilise a seeding system. The top two sides from the League Phase cannot meet before the final and can’t face the sides who finished third and fourth before the semi-finals. No change to the final, which will take place as a one-off game on neutral ground.
What About the Europa League and Conference League?
All of the above represents a drastic change. However, UEFA are at least consistent, as the Europa League and Conference League will also follow the Swiss Format.
Both competitions start with 36 sides, with the Europa League following an identical format to the Champions League. Following the lead of its big brother, there will be no dropdown from the Europa League to the Conference League.
The Conference League follows the same knockout arrangement, but each side will play only six games (three home and three away) in the League Phase.
New Format: Pros & Cons
So, that’s how it all works, but what do we make of it?
Pros
- More Games - The League Phase offers 144 games compared to 96 under the Group system, whilst the Knockout fixtures are up to 45 from 29
- More Variety - With each team facing eight different sides, the league system also ramps up the variety on offer and removes the prospect of watching total mismatches more than once, as was the case in the home and away fixture-based Group format
- More Quality Games Early in the Competition - The make-up of the Pots is yet to be confirmed, but we do know that Pot 1 contains Man City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Inter, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and Barcelona. As each side must play two sides from their Pot as part of the League Phase, we should be in for a stream of firecracker fixtures from the off
- Banishes the Spectre of the European Super League? - More high-profile games mean more income, which is just what the big clubs were aiming for when threatening a breakaway European Super League. Hopefully, this new format will deal a blow to plans which threatened to alter/ruin the game irreversibly
Cons
- Diluting Quality - More teams inevitably draw the accusation of a dilution in quality. With extra qualifiers and additional places for France, Germany, and Italy, the average level of the teams does decrease, but only slightly. Hopefully, the new format will maintain the David vs Goliath element without the surplus of damp squibs and one-sided encounters of the Group system.
- More Games - One man’s pro is another man’s con. For “another man” read Premier League managers, who, having complained of too many games for some time, are unlikely to be overjoyed by the additional fixtures of the League Phase
- Too Complicated - Whatever its merits, the new system is significantly tougher to explain than the simple, top two go through, knockout from there on in, of the Group format. Given the calibre of sides involved, most fans will accept it, but a period of adjustment seems inevitable
Betting Factors
- More Choice - For fans who enjoy betting on the Champions League, the additional games provide greater choice on each match day – a definite advantage when picking out those accas.
- Huge Clashes Every Week - With the Group system, some Match Days could pass by without an obvious headline fixture. That shouldn't be the case under the new system, which should provide a game of significant betting interest every week
- Fewer Bankers - Those who like nothing better than lumping on the giants to beat the minnows’ home and away, e.g. Bayern Munich vs Viktoria Plzen or PSG vs Maccabi Haifa, may find fewer opportunities with each team playing another no more than once in the League Phase
- More Evenly Matched Fixtures - On the other side of the coin, many punters like nothing better than attempting to find an edge in an evenly matched game. With each side playing two others from their Pot in the League Phase, these opportunities ought to be plentiful. Away from the betting angle, evenly matched games tend to be far more interesting for the neutral
All Change, but as Exciting as Ever
Only time will tell if this new format is here to stay or scrapped after a couple of seasons; given the additional revenue, we suspect this is how European Competition will look for the foreseeable future. Whatever the case, the Champions League remains the pinnacle of the club game, and it all kicks off on Tuesday, 17th of September, with the Europa League following on the 25th of September and the Conference League on the 3rd of October.
