Champions League makes major change for 2025/26 season with new-look knockout phase

The Sun

3 days ago

UEFA are reportedly planning yet more changes to the Champions League - just a year after the implementation of the tournament's new format.
The 2024/25 season marked the introduction of the new 36-team competition, which was formatted like an actual league.
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Teams finishing in the top eight receive a bye into the last 16 as seeded sides.
The following 16 teams competed in a knockout play-off round, in which the losers no longer had the safety net of dropping into the Europa League.
Teams finishing from 25th to 36th place missed out on the play-offs altogether and were immediately dumped out of the tournament.
Footie fans worldwide are still getting to grips with the Swiss-system tournament format.
And they'll reportedly have to wrap their heads around some additional changes to the competition.
According to reports, clubs finishing higher in the league stage will be guaranteed home advantage for the second leg of their last 16 tie.
The teams finishing first and second will retain home advantage in the semi-finals should they make it through.
The benefit of home advantage for the second leg will be transferred if a lower-ranked team beats a higher-ranked side.
New Champions League format is a snorefest
By Dan King
UEFA sold the idea of expanding the Champions League from 32 to 36 teams, with each playing eight games instead of six in the opening phase, as a way of creating more competitiveness and excitement.
The biggest clubs would have two matches against their peers, rather than having to wait until the knockout stage to meet.
The smaller clubs would meet teams of a similar level twice and have a chance of tasting victory that was so hard to achieve if you were the bottom seed in a group of four.
Ignoring for a moment the fact that the real motivation was the simple equation of more games = more money, the theory itself already looks flawed.
None of the matches between European giants has delivered a compelling contest yet.
And why would they? At the start of the long season with more matches in it, why would any team with ambitions to win things in the spring, go out all guns blazing in the autumn?
Especially when they know they have six games NOT against big sides to make sure they accrue enough points to qualify at least for the play-off round (and even more games).
There is even less jeopardy than before.
So if a side which seals qualification to the last 16 through the play-off dumps out the table-toppers, they'll take their associated benefits.
With the new format, last season's winners Paris Saint-Germain, who finished the league phase in 15th place, would've received all the benefits of finishing top of the table with their last-16 triumph over first-placed Liverpool.
Uefa are said to be implementing the changes, which have been reported by Calcio e Finanza, to give more value to and increase the stakes in the group stage.