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The Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA) announced t he new format for Europe's top club footballing competition, the Champions League which will come into effect from the 2024-25 season. The new format will also be used in other UEFA club tournaments like the Europa League and Conference League.
This new format was conceptualised and introduced after the formation of the European Super League, a club tournament proposed by some of the top clubs in Europe which promised bigger cuts in revenue. The competition was introduced during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic which led to a dire financial situation for Europe's biggest clubs.
Since then the ESL went from a tournament which was banned to winning a case against UEFA and FIFA. After these lawsuits, the new 36-team format was released and was unanimously agreed upon by all European stakeholders, according to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
New UEFA Champions League format
Starting from the 2024-25 season, 36 clubs will go head-to-head in a single league phase, instead of the present group stage format with 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four. The 36 teams are slated to play eight matches each against eight different teams (four home and four away) out of which the top eight teams directly qualify for the Round of 16.
Then the teams ranked from ninth to 24th will go head-to-head in a knockout playoff. The best eight teams from the playoff will reach the Round-of-16 stage while all other teams will be eliminated. The clubs who missed the RO16 won't go down to the Europa League.
How will the teams qualify for the league phase?
Alongside the standings from the previous league season, the team will qualify for the Champions League based on each association’s position in the club coefficient ranking. These factors will be taken into consideration and the 36 teams will be picked from four slots which are as follows:
SLOT ONE: The team ranked third in the association ranked fifth in the coefficient rankings.
SLOT TWO: This will be given to ‘a domestic champion by extending from four to five the number of clubs qualifying via the Champions path of the competition’s qualifying process, which will consist of four qualifying rounds.’
SLOT THREE AND FOUR: These places will go to ‘associations with the best collective performance by their clubs in the previous season’.
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