UEFA Champions League new format: How does it work? Here's all you need to know...

UEFA on Monday (Mar 4) confirmed the new format for the Champions League, set to be introduced from the 2024-25 season. The governing body for football in Europe said the new format emphasises selection based on 'playing merit' with some of the biggest teams locking horns with each other frequently.

Modelled loosely on the scrapped «Super League» format, the new format is known as the «Swiss model» and marks a departure from the traditional group stage format. Unlike the current format where 32 teams play in the group stage in eight groups, there will be 36 teams participating in the league phase.

Teams will play eight matches in the new league phase (former group stage). They will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away.

«To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away,» UEFA explained.

In the previous model, group winners and group runners-up would qualify for the knockout stage consisting of 16 teams.

However, the new rule states that the top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged knock-out phase play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition. Teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated, with no access to the UEFA Europa League.

UEFA argues that with all teams ranked together in a single league, there will be more to play for, till the final night of the