On May 11, 2022, UEFA confirmed a new Champions League format for the 2024-25 season. According to the Champions League New Rules and Format, the tournament will expand from 32 to 36 teams in 2024 as UEFA approves changes. The changes look pretty useful as more teams will add the thrill to the competition. Further, fans will be able to see their favorite clubs playing on the biggest stage. In this blog post, we have detailed all the new rules and formats for the upcoming seasons.
UEFA Champions League New Rules and Format
The number of teams in the Champions League group stage will rise from 32 to 36 from 2024 to 25 under changes approved by UEFA. Under the new format, each team will play eight games over 10 match weeks.
Changes in The Champions League Format
Let’s take a clear look at the new improvised format by UEFA:
- The tournament will expand from 32 teams to 36 teams. A final, 36-team group-stage table ranks teams from 1 to 24 based on their performance.
- The Traditional group stage idea will be abandoned. Instead, a single league phase is going to introduce all the teams.
- In the Champions League, Each team will play eight matches, four home and four away, instead of 6 group matches (current format).
- Teams that rank 1-8 in this group-stage table effectively seed and enter the round of 16. Like the group-stage winners are under the current format, the top eight teams will automatically qualify for the knockout stages.
- The remaining teams, from 9th place to 24th place, will play a two-legged playoff for the other eight knock-out stage sports. Teams that finish 25-36 will be eliminated from Europe altogether.
- The knockout bracket will be split in two. The best-performing clubs in the group stage, ranked 1 and 2, will get into positions at the opposite end of the bracket, thus unable to meet each other until the final.
- Teams ranked 3 & 4, 5 & 6, and 7 & 8 will also be paired and have set positions in opposite halves of the bracket, determined by the draw.
Also Read: Most Successful Clubs in UEFA Europa League History
Four New Spots
UEFA will add four new teams ahead of the 2024-25 Champions League season. The format to add the additional teams is:
- The first place out of 4 will go to the club ranked third in the fifth-placed association in Europe.
- The second spot out of 4 will go to a domestic champion via the “Champions Path.”
- The third and fourth spots will go to the two associations with the best collective performance by their clubs in previous seasons. This way, each association club will earn one place.
Europa and Europa Conference League Changes
UEFA Europa League | Similar to the Champions League, the UEFA Europa League will also have 36 teams in the league phase and eight matches in the league stages.
Europa Conference League | The conference league will also have 36 teams as well. But unlike the Champions League and UEFA Europa League, it will stick to the original six matches per team in the group stages. Unlike UCL and Europa, 8 games per team in league stages.
All these are the details about the UEFA Champions League’s new rules and format for the 2024/25 season, as more teams will participate in the tournament. If there is any change, we will make them available here. Stay tuned for more information!
