EXPLAINED: How will new Champions League group stage format work from 2024-25 season

The Champions League group stage for the 2023-24 season came to a nervy end on Wednesday (Dec 13) evening as 16 teams made it through to the knockout stage. Unlike any other season, the group stage produced another fine spectacle as Premier League giants Manchester United and Newcastle United bowed out at the initial stage. They will now have to wait until next season before they can claim their place in the knockouts. However, that won’t be easy for sides across Europe as next season will mark the revamp of the Champions League group stage and will be based on the Swiss League model with 36 teams participating in the continental tournament’s initial stage.

How did the previous model work?

Since 2003-04, the Champions League had adopted a simple model of eight groups of four teams each; thereby 32 teams participating in the tournament. Group winners and group runners-up would qualify for the knockout stage consisting of 16 teams after each team played six matches in the group stage. Each team in the group played the rest of the three teams twice (once home and once away) and teams were ranked according to the number of points collected (three points for a win, one for a draw and none for defeat).

How will the new model work?trending now

• From the 2024-25 season of the Champions League there will be 36 teams that will participate in the tournament. Therefore, there will be four additional teams in the competition compared to previous seasons of the Champions League. There will be four groups of nine teams each now. Like the traditional group stage, the teams will play every other opponent in the group, however, unlike the previous format the teams will meet only once (in the previous format teams from the same group met