European football’s premier club competitions will have their formats revamped from the beginning of the 2024-25 season. Some love it, others hate it. Here’s everything you need to know about the changes.
Part of football’s allure is the fact it’s always changing, always hunting for improvements. Whether it be the introduction of the much-maligned VAR, the outlawing of the backpass or the expansion of competitions such as the UEFA Champions League or Premier League, change happens.
Whether these occur for the better, or worse, could only have been judged after the fact. The same can be said for the newest format change UEFA is introducing to its three club competitions; the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
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UEFA’s new Champions League format
To put it simply, beginning in the 2024-25 season, UEFA has done away with the group stage format we’ve grown to know and love. In its place is a single league format competition, dubbed the ‘Swiss model’.
Where previously the 32 sides competing in the Champions League were split into groups of four to seed for the knockout stage, the new-look format, expanded to 36 teams, sees sides compete in a single league format.
On top of this, teams will play eight matches in the league phase, an increase from the six currently played in the competition’s group stage. Rather than playing three opponents twice, as has been the case in the current format, teams will play eight different teams once, two from each seeding pot, with half the games occurring at home and the other half away.
Sound simple enough?
Of these 36 team leagues, the top eight finishing sides automatically qualify for the round of 16, with the teams finishing 9th to 24th competing in a two-legged play-off to secure their place in the next round. Any side that finishes 25th or lower is eliminated.
Crucially, unlike the current Champions League group stage, where the sides finishing third are given a place in the Europa League knockouts, the sides that finished 25th or lower in the new-look Champions League don’t drop into the Europa League.
When it comes to the knockout phase, the teams who finished the league phase ranked 9th to 16th will be drawn in the play-off round against a side ranked 17th to 24th. The eight victorious clubs from these fixtures will face one of the top-eight finishing sides.
In a social media clip announcing the changes, UEFA confirmed participation participation in the revamped formats remains ‘open and based on sporting merit.’ The governing body probably felt this distinction was necessary to dispel any beliefs that it was essentially forming its version of the maligned European Super League.
In another key change, both the Champions League and Europa League will see their matches played between September and January, with Conference League matches confined to a September to December window.
Furthermore, each competition will have one exclusive matchweek, where the other two competitions will not have matches scheduled.
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Is anything staying the same?
Much like the current Champions League model, the knockout fixtures from the round of 16 onwards will stay the same, as will midweek fixtures. Additionally, all games on the final matchday of each competition’s league stage will kick off simultaneously.
Will the same happen in the Europa League and Conference League?
Yes.
The Europa League will play eight matches against eight opponents, much like the Champions League, whereas the Conference League will play six matches against six opponents.
Both competitions will also feature 36 teams in the league phase.
Why are these changes coming into effect?
UEFA have made the case that ‘the new format, with all the teams ranked together in a single league, will mean that there is more to play for all the way through to the final night of the league phase.’
European football’s governing body also argues that the revamped structure to its three club competitions ‘gives the opportunity for clubs to test themselves against a wider range of opponents and raises the prospect for fans of seeing the top teams go head to head more often and earlier in the competition. It will also result in more competitive matches for every club across the board.’
However, many can’t look past the argument that the revamped tournaments, which involve more games than the current format of the Champions League, are just a revenue-raising scheme.
The equation is rather simple; more games equals more money.
Where does the term ‘Swiss model’ come from?
Funnily enough, chess. The new UEFA format is based on the Swiss system utilised in chess, which dictates each team does not play all others.
