UEFA confirms new Champions League format! What will the European Cup look like next season?

Not only the Champions League, but also the less famous European competitions will have a new look from next year. UEFA officially confirmed the new format of its competitions this afternoon and also presented all the new features.

What does UEFA new format look like?

In the current competition year, this is the last time we can see the current format of Europe’s three most prestigious competitions. In fact, at the start of next season, UEFA is changing the format for the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League.

A major departure from the current group stage system. From the 2024/25 season, instead of eight core groups, the competition will be played in the style of one large group (classic table, Swiss model) containing 36 teams. Each of these 36 clubs will play eight teams in the so-called ‘league phase’. With half of these matches being played at home and half away.

At the start of the season, there will be the traditional draw, where the teams will be divided into four performance boxes. The top basket will contain the previous Champions League winner and the eight clubs according to the best coefficients. Therefore, it is not automatic that the league champions and the Europa League winner will be in the first basket.

In other words, the task of the draw will be for each team to face two opponents from each basket. No club will play one opponent home and away in the opening phase.

In general, clubs from the same country will not be drawn against each other. But to avoid deadlock in the draw, an exception applies in the case of countries that will have a larger number of representatives (i.e. five or more) in the Champions League.

Advancement to the knockout stage will be based on the following key. The top 8 teams in the table will go straight through to the eighth round. The teams in positions 9 to 24 will play in the first knockout round. Positions 25 to 36 are eliminated from Europe. The crucial difference is that there is no relegation of teams from the Champions League to the Europa League after the initial phase. Once a team is relegated, its European journey is over.

From the first knockout round, 8 teams will advance to the eighth round, thus closing the eighth round of 16. Then it will be played in the format we know today. The eighth-finals, quarter-finals and semi-finals are traditionally a two-match game. The final is a one-match game with the venue known in advance.

Čeferin on the changes…

“UEFA has clearly shown that it is fully committed to respecting the fundamental values of sport. And upholding the key principle of open competitions with qualification based on sporting merit, fully in line with the values and solidarity model of European sport,” said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin in an official statement.

“I am really pleased that this was a unanimous decision by the UEFA Executive Committee, with the European Clubs Association, the European leagues and the national associations agreeing with the proposal put forward. It is further proof that European football is more united than ever before,” he added.

Source: UEFA, X