UEFA reveals new Champions League format, without group stage

This Monday, the 4th, the UEFA revealed the new format of Champions League, which will be implemented from next season. The traditional group stage with 32 clubs comes to an end and will be replaced by a league format stage, which will consist of 36 teams. Each team will play eight games, with their opponents being defined through a draw.

The teams will be divided into four pots according to specific criteria and each participant will face two clubs from each pot, with half of the games played as home teams and the other as visitors. “This gives clubs the opportunity to test themselves against a wider range of opponents and increases the likelihood of fans seeing top teams face each other more often and earlier in the competition. It will also result in more competitive games for all clubs.”said UEFA, in a statement.

The eight clubs that have the best campaigns in the league phase will guarantee a direct place in the round of 16 of the new Champions League. The teams placed between 9th and 24th place will go to a playoff for the other eight remaining places. Those classified between 25th and 36th are eliminated directly. From the round of 16 onwards, the design remains the same, with the teams facing each other in round-trip matches, in a knockout format, with the club with the highest aggregate score qualifying, with no tiebreaker criteria for goals scored away from home. . The final continues to be played in a single game on a neutral field.

“UEFA has clearly demonstrated that we are fully committed to respecting the fundamental values ​​of sport and to defending the fundamental principle of open competitions, with qualification based on sporting merit, fully in line with the values ​​and the European sporting model based on solidarity”stated Aleksander Čeferinpresident of UEFA.

As it turned out, four new places were opened, with 36 teams in contention, instead of the current 32. UEFA guarantees that 32 places will continue as usual, with the traditional classifications for national championships. The rest will be distributed as follows:

• First wave: This place will go to the club ranked third in the federation championship that occupies fifth position on the access list, which is determined by the UEFA coefficient ranking.
• Second wave: This place will be granted to a national champion, increasing from four to five the number of national champion clubs that will participate in the Champions League qualifying phase, which will have four qualifying rounds.
• Vacancies three and four: These places will go to the associations with the best collective performance of their clubs in the previous season (i.e. the association’s club coefficient in the previous season). Each of these two federations will gain an automatic place in the league stage in addition to the usual places.