More teams and goodbye to the group stage: This is the new Champions format

The Executive Committee of the UEFA approved the past Tuesday the new format that will have the Champions League from the season 2024-2025. The maximum competition of clubs of the continent will see very distinct to what are accustomed after the changes accepted in the meeting that took place in Vienna, where have given the seen well to the final format and the list of access for the continental tournaments. The main body rector of the European football has adopted the called "Swiss System", and would be studying the possibility that the Champions finish with a 'final four'.

After "exhaustive query with the parts interested in the game", as it has indicated the UEFA in a communiqué, the organisation chaired by Aleksander Čeferin has taken the determination to delete the phase of groups of the competition. In his place, the League of Champions would be contested under the format of league. Likewise, they have increased the contingent of teams that will conform the tournament, which happens of 32 to 36 groups.

On the new method of classification, each one of the 36 teams will play eight parties against eight different teams (four home and four of visit). When finalising the days, the 8 teams that occupy the first places of the table will happen directly to the eighth of final. In the meantime, the clubs that occupy the positions comprised between the 9 and the 24 will play an eliminatory of gone and turn, in shape of liguilla, to define to the others 8 remaining clubs.

By his part, of the four additional squares, one will go allocated to the third qualifier of the league that occupy the fifth place of the classification of the UEFA. Another will be awarded to a national champion, expanding of this way of four to five the number of clubs classified by means of the designated "Route of Champions". Finally, the last two will be conceded to the two leagues that have the best collective performance (that it obtains dividing the total number of points obtained in each league between the number of clubs participants).

Ceferin ilusiona With the change

The president of the UEFA, Aleksander Čeferin, has showed quite satisfied with the changes made, and has done it know by means of a communiqué. "We are convinced that the format chosen attains the suitable balance and that will improve the competitive balance and will generate solid income that can distribute between the clubs, the leagues and the basic football of all our continent to the time that increases the appeal and the popularity of our competitions of clubs", and concluded affirming that "the qualification will keep on being purely based in the sportive performance and the dream to participate will remain for all the clubs".