New UEFA Champions League Format – Everything You Need To Know

The UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League introduced a new format for a better competitive balance in the 2024-2025 season.

The format has gained interest and concern from the fans, and everyone is eager to know how it will work. Learn about the new UEFA Champions League format in our article below.

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Teams play through different stages in the UEFA Champions League, which starts with qualifying rounds for teams of a lower rank. 

The main event is the league phase, which follows the Swiss model Champions League format. The format features 36 teams in a single league table. Each team plays eight games, four home and four away games. The teams get three points if they win and one point if the match is a draw.

The top eight teams automatically qualify for the Round of 16. Meanwhile, teams ranked 9th to 24th play in an additional knockout round to secure a spot in the Round of 16. The teams ranked 25th to 36th are eliminated from the competition.

In the knockout phase, teams compete against each other in home and away games. The teams with a better score continue to the quarter-finals and semi-finals, where players also play in home and away games.

The final is a single match between the two strongest teams, and the final winner becomes the UEFA Champions League champion.

The exact day the UEFA Champions League starts differs every year, but the season runs from September to May. 

League players play in the group stage between September and December. The knockout stage starts in February and ends with the final match in late May or early June.

The group and knockout stage matches are held during the week, usually Tuesdays and Wednesdays, to avoid interfering with each club’s home league games. The schedule of the UEFA Champions League keeps football fans entertained throughout the season.

Football fans should check our prepared UEFA Champions League season predictions and Premier League season predictions.

The new Champions League format has several advantages:

The main disadvantage of the UEFA Champions League new format is that the league phase has too many games. 

The new league phase format raises many concerns for UEFA fans and critics. A large amount of games leads to the following: 

The new UEFA Champions League format brings opportunities and challenges for the 2024-2025 season. With 36 teams and a long league phase, fans will enjoy various high-quality matchups, allow more clubs to compete, and make the tournaments inclusive and exciting. 

More games also raise concerns about player fatigue, scheduling difficulties, or resource losses. However, only time will tell how the new format will work.