While this season’s Champions League adventure might have got underway last week, there is still plenty of confusion over UEFA’s controversial new format.
Almost universally regarded as the greatest club tournament from across the globe, this is the first time since 1992 that such a drastic revamp has been completed.
With UEFA completely tearing up the long-standing and traditional format, we have broken down just how all of the alterations work and taken a look at just how the new look Champions League could impact Europe’s elite.
How does the new Champions League format work?
For as long as many can remember, the Champions League group stage was set up with 32 teams in eight separate groups of four – with the top two sides from those respective groups qualifying for the last 16.
However, in what has been a drastic alteration by football’s leading governing body, the new 36-team tournament will see all of the clubs placed into one single group and each will play eight games – four at home and the remaining four on foreign soil.
Teams who finish in the top eight will qualify automatically for the last 16, while those who place ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off for the chance to join them.
Unlike previous tournaments, the eight clubs that end the new group phase sat in the bottom eight will be completely eliminated from all European tournaments and will not drop down into the Europa League knockout stage.
What are the reasons behind the new format choice?
Although UEFA might have decided to add two more additional group stage fixtures in an attempt to earn more finances, they have insisted that the new Champions League format has been designed so more of Europe’s fringe clubs can be handed a chance.
Likewise, stating that they believed the previous group stage format was not as entertaining and saw all of Europe’s elite avoid each other until the later stages, UEFA has insisted that the new idea is…
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Author : Tom Dunstan
Publish date : 2024-09-26 08:36:48
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