Champions League makes major change for 2025/26 season with new-look knockout phase
The 2024/25 season marked the introduction of the new 36-team competition, which was formatted like an actual league.
2
Uefa drastically reformed the Champions League format ahead of the 2024/25 season
Credit: SHUTTERSTOCK
2
More changes to Europe's elite club competition are reportedly in the pipeline
Credit: GETTY
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.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
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.
Most read in Football
New Champions League format is a snorefest
By
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.
Read the full column on the
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
The new Champions League format explained
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
What TV channel is St Patrick's Athletic vs Hegelmann on? Stream, tickets and odds for Conference League qualifier
LITHUANIAN side FC Hegelmann travel to Inchicore to face St. Patrick's Athletic in the first leg of their Conference League first qualifying round. A late flurry of results last season for Stephen Kenny's side saw them secure a European place ahead of title chasers Derry City. Advertisement Pat's won all eleven of their league games which followed their Conference League The two sides have not faced off in a European tie before but their will be Hegelmann are managed by former PSV Eindhoven and Dunfermine defender Andrius Skerla. The former Lithuania international was captain of Zalgiris Vilnius when they knocked the Inchicore outfit of the Europa League in 2013. Advertisement Read more on League of Ireland Liam Buckley's side had claimed a 2-2 draw in Vilnius thanks to an 88th minute equaliser from Ger O'Brien, the club's current director of football. That raised hopes of progression but the visitors claimed a 2-1 win at Richmond Park before going on to knock out Zalgiris Vilnius and Lech Poznan. HOW TO STREAM ST PATS VS HEGELMANN? The Conference League round one qualifier first leg will be available to stream on The streaming service comes at a cost and will not be free to stream. Advertisement Most read in Football Live Blog Live Blog Solidsport is the largest streaming service in Scandinavia for live sports. In 2019, thousands of teams, clubs, tournaments and clubs chose to broadcast live over 45,000 matches and events via Solidsport. ARE TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE? No, the European tie has sold out. There will be a sell out crowd in Richmond Park tonight as the last of the tickets were snapped up last Friday. League of Ireland mascots compete in charity race in Naas WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Pat's are the favourites to win the home leg of the Conference League qualifiers match-up at 13/10. Hegelmann are 47/20 to win the first leg with a draw being set at 9/4. Advertisement HOW HAVE PATS FARED IN EUROPE? An FAI Cup win in 2023 saw the Saints compete in European qualifiers last year, bypassing the first round and starting in the Conference League second qualifying round. The Inchicore outfit defeated Vaduz of Liechtenstein before beating Azerbaijani team Sabah FK to reach the play-off round. 1 Pat's have recorded zero wins and one goal in their last six games Two legs away from European league phase football, the Saints lost 2-0 on aggregate to Başakşehir after holding them to a 0-0 draw in Tallaght Stadium. Advertisement The last time Pat's featured in a first qualifying round they faced Luxembourg outfit F91 Diddeleng in 2023. A 5-3 aggregate defeat ended the Saints European adventure earlier than expected. Pat's will be hoping for a change in fortune for Conference League first qualifying rounds tonight in Richmond Park.
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Shelbourne's Champions League hero Mipo Odubeko shares his prediction for second leg clash with Linfield
MIPO Odubeko revealed he feared being replaced rather than supported by Seán Boyd. It is advantage Shelbourne in their Advertisement 2 The 22-year-old joined Shelbourne after his Fleetwood Town contract was cancelled 2 Odubeko added to his six league goals last night in the Champions League qualifier His strike came after an earlier chance to get on the scoresheet had been taken away when a penalty decision was reversed following a VAR check. And, when he saw Boyd limbering up ahead of entering the fray early in the second half, he admitted he thought he might be about to be hooked before hitting the back of the net within two minutes of the change. Boyd got the better of two Linfield players and laid if off to Odubeko who shifted it onto his left before burying it in the corner with a little help from a deflection. On whether he could be hauled ashore, Odubeko said: "I was thinking that, to be fair. Advertisement Read more on League of Ireland 'The two upfront works well. We've a good relationship, a great understanding of each other both on and off the pitch. That does help. Credit to him. 'Myself and Seán have a great relationship. He's sort of like a big brother figure for me. When we're on the pitch together we work really well. 'I was happy to see him come on. He did the right thing and I scored. I'm happy for me but also him.' It looked as though Odubeko and Evan Caffrey were debating as to who would take the spot-kick whilst the incident was reviewed but Odubeko said: 'I was going to take the penalty. Advertisement Most read in Football Live Blog Live Blog 'I wasn't thinking much about VAR, only about where I was going to put it. It was overturned but we got there in the end.' After a strong start, Shels struggled to keep up the momentum in the latter stages of the second half before making the breakthrough within 13 minutes of the restart. League of Ireland mascots compete in charity race in Naas And Odubeko said: 'It was just about focussing. 'A lot of people said to me at half-time: 'I know you haven't touched the ball much in the first half but the chance will fall and make sure you're ready'. I think I did that really well. Advertisement 'The first half was really difficult. They made it really tight for us and hard to play against. It was hard to get shots off but I knew the chance would fall for me. I was there to take it so I'm really happy. 'We had enough chances to score more than one. We didn't come away with more than one. Sometimes that happens. 'There's been games this season where we dominated more but came away with no goals. Listen, we're happy with one and the win.' The victory was an important moment as Shels look to move on following Advertisement Odubeko said: 'It's been really tough for the lads over the last few weeks. There's been a lot of external talk around the club but the lads have really focussed and carried out the job. 'The performances over the last few games have been really good. It's all credit to the lads and I'm really proud of them.' But they still have work to do at Windsor Park next Wednesday to ensure they progress to meet Qarabag in the next round. He said: 'We won but they made it tough for us. I'd like to think it will be an even tougher game next week but the fact is the tie is far from over. We'll just prepare for next week. Advertisement "We've a job to do so hopefully we do it. There's games there to win and games that we're capable of winning. Our focus is going to do that.'
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘The fact is the tie is far from over' - Goal scorer Mipo Odubeko on Shels' first-leg win over Linfield
Mipo Odubeko insists Shelbourne's Champions League tie with Linfield is far from over after his goal gave the Reds a one-goal lead to take to Belfast for next week's second–leg.
