✍️ Rohit Singh

🗓️ Sep 16, 2024

UEFA Champions League or simply UCL is a club-based European football tournament where the champions of the national leagues and the other best clubs complete every year. The inaugural season of this prestigious league was kicked off in 1955 and with time being passed has delivered 23 champion clubs with 12 clubs winning it more than once.

Real Madrid is the most successful franchise in the league with 15 Champions League titles in their bucket. 

Champions League format change from 2024/25?

With the 2024/25 season starting off the UEFA executive committee has decided to change the earlier group stage format system. The present league’s format that has been followed for the last 21 years includes the participation of 32 teams divided into eight groups of four with the top two teams advancing and the third team playing the UEFA Europa League. 

Now, as per the ‘Swiss Model’ the league phase will have 36 teams (four teams extra). Four pots (A-D) are created containing 9 teams each. For example, pot A has the teams (Real Madrid, and Manchester City) that are rated high in the UEFA coefficient ranking and so on. 

Each team has fixtures scheduled with eight teams, two from each pot, with four matches at home and remaining away. After the end of the league phase, the top 8 teams will qualify for the round of 16 and the bottom 12 (25th to 36th) teams will be eliminated with no chance of getting redemption in the Europa League. However, the teams numbered from 9th to 24th would play a two-legged playoff, with 8 champion teams joining the top 8 teams for the round of 16. Further, the tournament would proceed as processed earlier with Quarters, semis, and the finals.

Qualifications

The qualification of a team depends on their performance in the domestic league with positions being allocated based on the UEFA’s coefficient system. Based upon how good the country’s league is one or more teams can qualify for the competition. For example, from the La Liga league four Spanish clubs can get the spots in contrast to the Kazakhstan league which can only get one team into the competition. 

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