A LEAGUE FORMAT WILL REPLACE THE GROUP STAGE FROM THE 2024-25 SEASON
UEFA have announced profound changes to qualification for the 2024-25 Champions League.
The first innovation is that the number of teams in the group stages will increase from 32 to 36.
The four extra places will be allocated as follows: One team from two countries based on the previous season's European competitions, one extra team who finished third in the fifth-ranked UEFA country and one team from the 'Champions Path' (countries whose domestic champions do not automatically qualify for the group stage such as Latvia and Wales).
If the format had been in place this season, Liverpool, who finished fifth in the Premier League but missed out on the Champions League, would have qualified too.
Secondly, this first stage will no longer consist of eight groups of four teams but a single league table. Each club will play four home and four away games, drawn according to seeding based on the UEFA coefficient.
The top eight teams in this table will qualify for the knockout stages and the next 16 teams will compete in two-legged playoffs to add another eight who will advance to the round of 16.
Those who finish 25th to 36th in the table are eliminated and will not drop into the Europa League.
With 16 teams, the knockout stage will then unfold as before. This new format will also apply to the Europa League and Europa Conference League.
UEFA's changes raise the total of first-round games from 126 to 189 and the number of games clubs play in this round from six to eight.
This increase in games could thus be interpreted as the governing body's latest sop to the clubs to head off the ever-simmering threat of a breakaway super league.
Barely two weeks ago, Manchester City got their hands on their first Champions League trophy, but this Tuesday next season's competition begins again with the Preliminary Round semi-finals:
Atletic Club d'Escaldes (Andorra) v Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro)
Tre Penne (San Marino) v Breidablik (Iceland)
The group stage proper begins on the 19th of September and the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League concludes with the final at Wembley Stadium in London on the 1st of June 2024. The 2025 final will take place at Munich’s Allianz Arena in May 2025.