New Champions League format 2024-25 Season.
2023.12.17
On Wednesday, December 13, the 2023–24 Champions League group stage came to an intense conclusion as 16 clubs advanced to the knockout stage.
In a startling departure from the norm, Premier League giants Manchester United and Newcastle United faced early exits in the group stage—a rarity in prior seasons. Their path to the knockout stages now deferred until the next season adds an unexpected twist to their European aspirations.
However, the challenge extends beyond them, as the Champions League group stage is poised for a revamp in the upcoming season. Embracing the Swiss League format, the redesigned competition will involve 36 teams in the inaugural round, reshaping the landscape of continental football.
How did the previous model work
The Champions League has used a straightforward format since 2003–04, with eight groups of four teams each, for a total of 32 teams competing in the competition. After each team played six matches in the group round, the champions and runners-up of each group advanced to the 16-team knockout tournament.
Teams were ranked based on the amount of points they earned (three points for a victory, one for a draw, and none for a loss). Each team in the group played the other three teams twice, once at home and once away.
There will be 36 clubs competing in the Champions League starting in the 2024–2025 season. As a result, four more clubs than in previous Champions League seasons will compete in the league. There will now be four groups, each consisting of nine teams. The teams will play each other in the group, much like in the conventional group stage; but, in contrast to the previous structure, teams from the same group will only meet once.
As a result, for a given tie, each side will play eight group stage matches without a home-away structure. There will be four home games and four away games for each squad. The league that oversees European football, UEFA, has not yet approved the combinations that would determine a team’s home and away games.
Each of the 36 teams will be rated according on how well they performed in the group stage, using the same point system (three points for a victory, one for a tie, and none for a loss). The teams placed from 9th to 24th will compete in a playoff round (UEFA has not yet determined if the round would be single or double leg). The top eight teams from the updated rankings based on group stage performance will automatically qualify for the Round of 16.
The top eight clubs will then compete in a two-leg (home-away) Round of 16 matchup with the eight winners of the playoff round. A two-leg semifinal and a two-leg quarterfinal will come after this. Teams who advance to the final will play each other in the Champions League final (single leg) in May 2025 at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.
How many matches will be played in the CL season?
Teams compete in 125 matches during the Champions League season under the present structure, excluding the qualifying rounds. There are 96 games in the group stage (12 games each in 8 groups), and there are 28 two-leg ties in the Round of 16 (16 games), quarterfinal (8 games), and semifinal (4 matches). The Champions League season now stands at 125 matches after the single-leg final.
With the new structure, each team will play every other opponent once, resulting in 36 matches in a group. There will be 144 group stage matches in total, which is a net increase of 48 group stage matches from the previous model, with four such groups available. There will be 16 matches if clubs face each other in a two-leg playoff round to determine who advances to the Round of 16.
Similar to the previous structure, there will be 28 matches total—16 in the Round of 16, 8 in the quarterfinal, and 4 in the semifinal. There will be 45 knockout stage matches in the Champions League after adding the 16 playoff games and the championship game at the neutral site in Munich. As a result, there will be 16 extra knockout round matches than in the previous structure, bringing the total number of Champions League matches this season to 189 (64 more than in the previous model).
There will be a total of 37 knockout stage matches and 181 matches in the overall Champions League season (56 more matches than if the playoff round for the Round of 16 is played as a single-leg tie).
How will the timetable operate?
For every six games any side plays in the Champions League, there are now six matchdays. UEFA will need to find two additional matchdays to suit the new Champions League calendar, though, as each side must play eight matches in the group stage. This may even lead to group stage matches taking place on the weekends, with the Round of 16 playoff round being held in January of each year (as January has never been used for Champions League matches).
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