The new Champions League kicks off this Thursday at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo (18:00) with a new draw in which the balls will have less weight than the algorithm. The redesigned format, partly a response to the same concerns that prompted several clubs led by Real Madrid to promote the creation of the Super League in 2021, includes more teams and more guaranteed matches for each, as well as a reformed competition system.
The group stage, which had been in place for 32 years since the reform of the original knockout system in the 1992/93 season, is being replaced by a first phase in the form of a league with 36 teams instead of the 32 that participated until last season. Each team plays only eight opponents from that league, once against each other, four games at home and four away. There is no longer a round-trip tournament as there was until the last edition, when in the first phase there were groups of four teams that played each other twice against the other three. The classification of that league determines the composition of the matches in the knockout phase. The top eight teams go directly to the round of 16, which will be played as always, in a round-trip tournament. The positions are very important because they determine the tournament draw: the first and second teams, for example, will only be able to meet in the final, on May 31 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
The next 16 teams, from ninth to 24th, will have to play an extra round of 32 to reach the last 16, also over two legs, in which the teams ranked between ninth and 16th will have home court advantage. UEFA has calculated that it should be possible to qualify with an average of 7.6 points, i.e. two wins and two draws.
Teams finishing between 25th and 36th are eliminated, with none of them going on to play in the Europa League, as was the case in some cases until last season.
In the event of a tie on points, the position is decided based on the difference between goals scored and goals conceded; otherwise, by goals scored; or by away wins; or by the results of the rivals.
The complexity of the new competition, which begins with a league that is not a full league but a tournament in which only a few rivals are played, but in which the results are combined in a common table, has also led to the creation of a new draw. The 36 teams are divided into four pots based on their coefficients. Each club will play against two teams from each group, without coinciding with compatriots or being able to face more than two from the same League. Madrid, the last champion, and Barça start in pot 1, with City, Bayern, PSG, Liverpool, Inter, Dortmund and Leipzig. Atlético, in pot 2 and Girona, in pot 4.
The draw will start with a person drawing a ball with the name of a team. An algorithm will assign the eight opponents and decide which games they play at home and which away. Then the name of another team will be revealed, and the process will be repeated. If it were done using the traditional method, it would require a thousand balls, 36 ballot boxes and an enormous amount of time.
The matches will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 18:45 and 21:00, except for the first and last league matchdays. The opening matchday will be played on Tuesday 17, Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 September, and there will be no Europa League or Conference that week.
The final day also has a surprise in store. It will be a day of pure carousel: on Wednesday 29 January 2025, all 18 matches will be played at the same time from 9pm, in two hours during which several positions in the league table are expected to change, which will be decisive for the configuration of the tie-breaks.
The round of 32 will be in February, the round of 16 in March, the quarter-finals in April and the semi-finals in May. The champion will be decided in Munich on the 31st of that month.
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