The UEFA Champions League, European club football’s most coveted tournament, will look markedly different in 2024-25. This season introduces a new format to the competition’s structure, most notably a complete overhaul to the group stage. It’s the tourney’s first major rule change in 20 years since the addition of the round of 16 stage, implemented in time for the 2003 season.
There will be more teams in this year’s competition than ever before as four teams were added to the field. These four additional squads bring the total up from 32 to 36 participants in the opening round. The round formerly known as the group stage was dissolved and replaced by a league system.
The group stage pitted four teams against each other, challenging each club to finish in one of the top two spots for a chance to move on to the elimination round of 16. Now, however, every club is dumped into one league with eight matches against eight different opponents. All participating teams will receive four home games and four away games. This new formatting means there will be eight games for each squad in the opening round, two more than the previous iteration.
The top eight finishers from the field of 36 automatically qualify for the next stage. Those who finished 25th or below are eliminated from the tournament. The 16 teams that finish anywhere from 9th to 24th during the league round enter into a knockout playoff round. This consists of a two-leg series against the same opponent with one match at home for each.
Clubs finishing between 9th and 16th will be seeded and face one of the teams that finished between 17th and 24th. The higher-seeded teams will play the first leg on the road and the second leg at home.
This system is maintained into the round of 16, with the top eight seeds awaiting the eight winners from the knockout playoff round. Those teams who qualified via the knockout playoff will be unseeded, while the top eight will be seeded in order of how they finished the league round.
The seeding system continues into the round of 16, where clubs that finished first to eighth in the league phase will be seeded and will play against the winners of the knockout phase play-offs, who will be unseeded. There is plenty of incentive for teams to jockey for wins in league play, as it not only determines whether or not they automatically qualify, but owning a higher seed provides an easier path to the championship round.
25 of the 36 UCL teams qualify by finishing in the top positions of their respective domestic leagues. The number of qualifying spots a league receives depends on its UEFA coefficient, which ranks leagues based on their performance in European competitions over a set period. More simply put, leagues that host successful UEFA clubs will receive more automatic bids for future UCL tournaments.
In 2024-25, the top four leagues are the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain, Bundesliga in Germany, and Serie A in Italy. Each of those leagues will supply the UCL tourney with four teams. This year’s fifth-ranked association, France received bids for its top three teams, while the sixth-ranked association, the Netherlands received two. Leagues ranked seven through ten receive one spot each. In order, those leagues are Portugal, Belgium, Scotland and Austria.
Teams that win domestic cup competitions, like the FA Cup in England or the Copa del Rey in Spain, often secure a place in the Champions League. There are also two qualifying paths for teams that don’t automatically qualify. The first is the champions path, which awards clubs that win lower-ranked leagues with a bid. The second is known as the league path, meant for clubs that finish just below the automatic qualification spots in higher-ranked leagues.
According to most sportsbooks across the globe, the EPL’s Manchester City is favored to win this year’s tournament. Those who enjoy sports betting on mobile apps will find City’s odds around 2-to-1, meaning a $100 bet would yield $200 in winnings. Real Madrid are widely considered the second-most likely team to pull down the trophy, with the Spanish side’s odds listed as better than 3-to-1.
A Brand New League Format
There will be more teams in this year’s competition than ever before as four teams were added to the field. These four additional squads bring the total up from 32 to 36 participants in the opening round. The round formerly known as the group stage was dissolved and replaced by a league system.
The group stage pitted four teams against each other, challenging each club to finish in one of the top two spots for a chance to move on to the elimination round of 16. Now, however, every club is dumped into one league with eight matches against eight different opponents. All participating teams will receive four home games and four away games. This new formatting means there will be eight games for each squad in the opening round, two more than the previous iteration.
How It Works
The top eight finishers from the field of 36 automatically qualify for the next stage. Those who finished 25th or below are eliminated from the tournament. The 16 teams that finish anywhere from 9th to 24th during the league round enter into a knockout playoff round. This consists of a two-leg series against the same opponent with one match at home for each.
Clubs finishing between 9th and 16th will be seeded and face one of the teams that finished between 17th and 24th. The higher-seeded teams will play the first leg on the road and the second leg at home.
This system is maintained into the round of 16, with the top eight seeds awaiting the eight winners from the knockout playoff round. Those teams who qualified via the knockout playoff will be unseeded, while the top eight will be seeded in order of how they finished the league round.
The seeding system continues into the round of 16, where clubs that finished first to eighth in the league phase will be seeded and will play against the winners of the knockout phase play-offs, who will be unseeded. There is plenty of incentive for teams to jockey for wins in league play, as it not only determines whether or not they automatically qualify, but owning a higher seed provides an easier path to the championship round.
Qualifying For UEFA Champions League
25 of the 36 UCL teams qualify by finishing in the top positions of their respective domestic leagues. The number of qualifying spots a league receives depends on its UEFA coefficient, which ranks leagues based on their performance in European competitions over a set period. More simply put, leagues that host successful UEFA clubs will receive more automatic bids for future UCL tournaments.
In 2024-25, the top four leagues are the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain, Bundesliga in Germany, and Serie A in Italy. Each of those leagues will supply the UCL tourney with four teams. This year’s fifth-ranked association, France received bids for its top three teams, while the sixth-ranked association, the Netherlands received two. Leagues ranked seven through ten receive one spot each. In order, those leagues are Portugal, Belgium, Scotland and Austria.
Teams that win domestic cup competitions, like the FA Cup in England or the Copa del Rey in Spain, often secure a place in the Champions League. There are also two qualifying paths for teams that don’t automatically qualify. The first is the champions path, which awards clubs that win lower-ranked leagues with a bid. The second is known as the league path, meant for clubs that finish just below the automatic qualification spots in higher-ranked leagues.
Clubs Competing In UCL 2024-25
According to most sportsbooks across the globe, the EPL’s Manchester City is favored to win this year’s tournament. Those who enjoy sports betting on mobile apps will find City’s odds around 2-to-1, meaning a $100 bet would yield $200 in winnings. Real Madrid are widely considered the second-most likely team to pull down the trophy, with the Spanish side’s odds listed as better than 3-to-1.