The Champions League will have 36 clubs on a single league table next season. In prior years, 32 clubs were split among eight four-team groups. We at The Football Yeller are here to cover What is the New Champions League Format? The Champions League has changed significantly for 2024/25. The format will increase matches from 125 to 189.
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The league phase will now be finished at the end of January instead of in December, and there will be designated weeks solely for the Champions League in the football calendar, with no other European competitions taking place during those times.
The champions will have participated in a total of 17 games throughout the tournament, while matches taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in Europe’s top club competition will become the standard schedule. Read What is the New Champions League Format? till the end.
Italy and Germany will each have at least 10 clubs participating in the new league phase of the upcoming season. The Champions League is set to undergo a major transformation, with the number of teams increasing from 32 to 36. One of the biggest changes will be the shift from the traditional group stage to a single league phase that includes all the participating teams.
Each club will now have the assurance of playing a minimum of eight league-stage games against eight different opponents. This includes four home games and four away games, which is an improvement from the previous format of six matches against three teams, played both at home and away.
The top eight teams in the league will earn a direct spot in the knockout stages, while the teams placing ninth to 24th will battle it out in a two-legged play-off for a chance to secure a spot in the last 16 of the competition. Unfortunately, teams ranked 25-36 face the disappointment of being eliminated from all competitions.
Currently, these teams have secured their place in the league phase. Shakhtar Donetsk and Benfica have secured their spots in the competition because they have already qualified through their strong performances in their respective leagues or as a result of their country’s success in European competitions this season.
Here are the winners of the UEFA Europa League: Atalanta. From England: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Aston Villa. From Spain, which is the home to some of the most renowned football clubs in the world, including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, and Atletico Madrid.
From Germany: Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern, Leipzig. From Italy, which is also home to some of the most prestigious football clubs, including Inter Milan, AC Milan, Bologna, and Juventus. From France: Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Brest. From The Netherlands which is the home to two popular football teams, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.
From Portugal: Sporting CP, from Belgium: Club Brugge, from Scotland: Celtic, from Austria: Sturm Graz. The European Performance Spots: Roma from Italy and Dortmund from Germany. Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) brings balance to the Champions League winner’s circle.
Benfica (POR) emerges as the victor in the Europa League, bringing a sense of balance to the competition. Seven teams will qualify by winning a two-legged play-off. Rangers are set to compete in the upcoming third qualifying round, with the draw for this stage scheduled to take place on July 22.
Philippe Clement’s team is among the seeded clubs, along with Slavia Prague, Red Bull Salzburg, and Lille. If Rangers come out on top, they will be eagerly awaiting the draw for the play-off round on August 5.
The initial matches are scheduled for August 20-21, followed by the second matches on August 27-28.
The league phase draw is scheduled for August 29. Two leagues – Italy and Germany – have been granted an additional spot in next season’s Champions League due to their impressive performance in European competitions this year.
This focused on the top average coefficient of all teams participating in Europe for each country. The two leagues that performed the best were awarded an additional spot. Atalanta’s impressive 3-0 victory over Torino last weekend has guaranteed them a spot in the top four of the Italian top flight.
The outcome also eliminated any chance of a sixth Serie A spot securing qualification for the Champions League in the upcoming season. If Borussia Dortmund wins the Champions League final against Real Madrid at Wembley, Eintracht Frankfurt – who finished sixth in the Bundesliga – will enter the league phase.
Otherwise, they qualify for the Europa League phase. Starting this season, clubs will no longer face the same opponents twice – once at home and once away. Instead, they will have matches against eight different teams, playing an equal number of games at home and away.
In order to determine the eight different opponents, teams will first be ranked in four seeding pots. Every team will be randomly assigned two opponents from each of these pots. They will have the opportunity to play one match against a team from each pot at their home stadium, and one match away. First round of matches:
Game day 1: September 17-19, 2024
Game day 2: October 1/2, 2024
Game day 3: October 22/23, 2024
Game day 4: November 5/6, 2024
Game day 5: November 26/27, 2024
Game day 6: December 10/11, 2024
Game day 7: January 21/22, 2025
Game day 8: January 29, 2025
Mark the calendars for the knockout round play-offs on February 11/12 and February 18/19, 2025.
Round of 16 matches will take place on March 4/5 and March 11/12, 2025. Quarter-finals will take place on April 8/9 and April 15/16, 2025. Semi-finals will take place on April 29/30 and May 6/7, 2025.
The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League season will be held in Munich at the Allianz Arena on May 31, 2025.
Modifications will also be implemented to the formats of the Europa League and Europa Conference League, with a total of 36 teams in both competitions. Europa League teams will face a total of eight matches against eight different opponents during the league phase.
In the Europa Conference League, now known as the UEFA Conference League, teams will face six different opponents in the league phase, playing a total of six matches. The UEFA Conference League matches are scheduled to take place from September to December.
The knockout phases of the competitions will occur during the latter part of the season and reach their climax at the end of the campaign, just like they currently do.
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