UEFA unveils new 36-team Champions League format
UEFA introduces significant changes to the Champions League with a new 36-team format, aiming to enhance competitiveness
UEFA has unveiled details of the new format for the 36-team Champions League next season, the biggest shake-up to the competition in years.
But how will it differ from season, and how will the new competition play out for Europe’s leading clubs?
Like professional tennis, clubs will now be seeded for the tournament's knockout stages. That means of the last 16 sides remaining, the top two cannot play each other until the final.
At the group stages, all 36 teams, currently 32, will be in one group, and each side will play eight matches – four at home and four away. The 36 are split into four pots depending on their UEFA ranking. Regardless of their ranking, every team will play a side from each of the four pots.
The top eight seeds for the knockout format will be decided by league position in the table, while the remaining eight will compete in play-offs – over two legs – to make that last 16.
Because of the new format's complexity, the draw will now be made by computer, and UEFA research finds it would have taken up to four hours otherwise.
This format is also set to be mirrored by both the Europa League and Europa Conference League, with UEFA hoping the overhaul will lead to greater jeopardy and better games as teams battle it out for league position.
England will have four automatic qualifiers into the 36-team Champions League format and could get two more additional slots depending on how their sides perform in Europe during the preceding season. Clubs from the same country cannot play each other in the group stage.
The presentation was made in London yesterday, with UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoris saying, “This format is here to say. The seeding incentivizes the league phase to avoid as many dead matches as possible.”
Source: Newsroom
