UEFA took the bold step of reformatting their Champions League competition for the 2024/25 season, with 36 teams now competing for glory on Europe’s biggest stage.
While the first matches of the season used to take place in a round-robin group stage, a new league stage table has been introduced to decide who qualifies for the knockout rounds and in which stage.
So how does the table work? Here’s everything you need to know about the reformatted competition.
Such a major overhaul has not been seen in Europe’s top club competition since the 1992/93 season, when the European Cup was renamed the Champions League with a group stage format. It also allowed multiple participants from selected countries for the first time, but this process ended at the end of the 2023/24 season.
A 36-team league is now opening up the competition, with UEFA increasing the total number of competing clubs by four. Each team will play eight games but will no longer face the same team home and away, but instead face new opponents each week.
Each team’s future in the competition will be decided by their position in the table at the end of the league stage in January. Clubs ranked first to eighth automatically qualify for the last 16 and will be seeded in the draw where they will face one of the winners of the knockout stages, which will be made up of the teams that finished ninth to 24th. . Teams that finish the league stage in 25th or below are eliminated from European football entirely without a Europa League consolation prize.
|
End of league stage classification |
result |
|---|---|
|
1st to 8th |
Last 16 qualification |
|
9 to 24 |
Elimination classification by elimination |
|
25 or lower |
Removal |
The teams from ninth to 16th will be seeded in the knockout draw, meaning they will play the second leg at their stadium and face the clubs from 17th to 24th.
UEFA also vaguely added that league stage position “sets the path for teams to reach the final”, indicating that it has an effect on match-ups in the knockout stages.
The tiebreakers used to separate teams sitting on the same number of points at the end of the league stage are as follows:
- goal difference
- goals scored
- Away goals scored
- win
- Away wins
- Points scored against opponents in the league phase
- Goal difference of opponents in the league phase
- Goals scored by opponents in the league phase
- Lower disciplinary points
- Club coefficient
The competition continues in its familiar format from the round of 16 before the final, where two teams fight to claim the silver medal.
In the 2024/25 season, the knockout stage play-offs will take place in mid-February before the last 16 begin a month later in March.
The increase in teams and the reformatted league stage means that the total number of matches played in Champions League seasons has increased from 125 to 189. Teams eliminated prematurely will play eight matches, while the runners-up will have gone through 17 matches after the main event.
The Europa League and Conference League have also been renamed. The Europa League it follows the same format as the Champions Leaguewhile Conference League teams play six games against six unique opponents in the league stage which still totals 36 clubs.
