UEFA has decided to change the format of the Champions League beginning with the 2024/25 season. The new format will include a larger number of teams in the competition as well as an additional 100 matches.
The traditional group stage, which consisted of eight distinct groups, has been replaced by a single large league stage. Each team will play a total of ten games, including five home and five away matches.
The top eight ranked teams at the end of the group stage will advance to the round of 16 stage. They will be joined by an additional eight teams via play-offs.
Teams ranked 9 to 24 will compete in two-leg play-offs to advance to the next round. Teams finishing lower than 25th will be eliminated from the tournament and will not be relegated to the Europa League.
From the round of 16, the tournament will be played according to the current format. The Europa League and the UEFA Conference League will use the same format.
The tournament will now feature 36 teams rather than 32, as per the new format. The remaining four teams will be chosen using three different criteria.
The first position will be awarded to the third-ranked team in UEFA’s fifth-ranked national association ranking. Ligue 1 is currently the fifth-ranked league in France.
“The second slot will be awarded to a domestic champion by extending from four to five the number of clubs qualifying via the so-called champions’ path.”
The third and fourth spots will go to the teams that have the highest UEFA club coefficient but did not qualify for the Champions League automatically. They must, however, have qualified for one of the European leagues.
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