The new Champions League format

The UEFA Champions League is set to undergo a major revamp next season and here is everything you need to know. The total number of participating teams will expand to 36 from 32. Instead of eight groups of four teams each, there will be only one big league table. Each team will play four home and four away games. To decide who plays against whom, 36 teams will be divided into four pots of nine according to the club coefficients. Each club will be drawn to play against two teams from each pot, excluding teams from the same association. Following this group stage, the top 8 teams will advance directly to the round of 16, while teams ranked 9th to 24th will undergo a rigorous two-legged playoff round to secure their spot in the next stage. Unlike the current format, there will be no drop-down to the Europa League. The knockout stage, however, is set to remain the same.

Nevertheless, the new Swiss model is far more worrying than confusing. Do check out our next story, where we tried to break down the major concerns of clubs and players participating in the UEFA Champions League next season.

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