With the draw for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League scheduled for Thursday in Monaco, AFP Sport outlines the format changes for Europe’s premier club competition. The revamped Champions League will feature 36 teams, a notable increase from the previous format’s 32.
France’s Ligue 1 now benefits from an additional automatic qualification slot, bringing its total to three teams. Furthermore, the leagues with the highest coefficients from last season, Germany and Italy, each receive an extra spot. The final additional slot will be allocated to a national champion emerging from the qualifying rounds, which are set to conclude this week.
Previously, the Champions League comprised 32 teams divided into eight groups of four, with the top two from each advancing to the knockout stage. This format has been replaced with a new ‘Swiss system,’ where all 36 teams compete in a single league setup, akin to the format used in chess tournaments.
Teams will now play eight matches instead of the previous six, facing two teams from each of four seeded pots, both home and away. This change aims to increase high-profile matchups earlier in the tournament, a response to the Super League discussions that had loomed over European football.
The group stage will now extend into January, with the number of games rising from 96 to 144. The top eight teams from the league phase will advance directly to the last 16, while teams ranked 9th to 24th will enter a new play-off round to secure the remaining spots. The bottom 12 teams will be eliminated without moving to the Europa League, marking a departure from the previous system.