Until recently, the Champions League was the pinnacle of club soccer in Europe. It was the competition that allowed UEFA to steer billions in prize money from global broadcasters and sponsors to clubs who could afford to pay for the most expensive players in the game. It has also helped to create a brand that is almost as recognizable as the FIFA World Cup trophy.
But now, the tournament is going through a major format change and it’s a move that some traditional fanbases have been protesting against for years. The new “league phase” adds four extra teams to the group stage and essentially creates a second tier of European club football.
The 36 qualifying teams will now be drawn into groups of four teams. Using a digital draw system, UEFA will ensure that no two clubs from the same country will be in the same group together. In addition, the remaining 24 spots will be divided into further pots based on coefficient to prevent powerhouse teams from being drawn together too often.
In the knockout stage, teams will play twice against each other in home and away matches. If the aggregate score is level after the first leg, the away-goals rule will apply and the team with more away goals advances.
The second legs will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday (one of the new weeks is exclusively Thursday). We’ve put together a table that shows how things might look after seven matches, but it’s worth remembering that with only 24 points available to each team, there won’t be nearly as much separation between positions as in a domestic league.
