The UEFA Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious club football competition, is undergoing a significant transformation this season.

This new format, often referred to as the “Swiss Model,” introduces several key changes aimed at increasing the excitement and competitiveness of the tournament. Here’s a breakdown of what fans can expect:

Key Changes in the 2024/25 Champions League Format:

1. Increase in Teams:

The number of participating teams will increase from 32 to 36.

These four additional teams will be selected based on UEFA’s country coefficient rankings and performances in the previous season’s competitions.

2. New League-Style Group Stage:

Instead of the traditional eight groups of four teams, all 36 teams will now participate in a single league-style group stage.

Each team will play eight matches against different opponents (four home and four away), rather than the previous six matches (three home, three away) in the group stage.

Teams will face different opponents based on a seeding system, ensuring a mix of challenging and more manageable fixtures for each club.*

3. Qualification and Progression to Knockout Stages:

After the league stage, the top 8 teams will automatically advance to the Round of 16.

Teams finishing from 9th to 24th place will enter a two-legged playoff round to determine the remaining 8 spots in the Round of 16.

The knockout stages (Round of 16 onwards) will continue with the traditional two-legged format, culminating in a single final match.

Potential Pros and Cons of the New Format:

Pros: The league-style format ensures that every game is crucial, potentially making the group stage more exciting and reducing the number of irrelevant matches. It’s also allowed for a fairer chance at qualification for the knockouts: The playoff system for teams finishing 9th to 24th allows for a second opportunity to progress, adding an additional layer of excitement.

Cons: The new format is more complicated, which might be confusing for some fans used to the simpler group stage and knockout setup. More matches in the group stage could lead to fixture congestion, raising concerns about player fatigue/injury and the impact on domestic leagues.