This season will see the last of the current format of the Champions League with change starting from the 2024-2025 season.
A UEFA Executive Committee meeting in 2022 in Vienna saw the signing of a new format after a two-year debate on how it could work.
Currently, there are 32 teams in the competition, which will increase to 36.
This will mean there are 189 matches played instead of 125.
Group stages will be replaced by a league phase which has been referred to as the ‘Swiss Model.’
The league phase will see each team playing eight matches, four at home and four away.
This will then mean the top eight places in the league, will qualify for a knockout stage.
Those that finish ninth to 24th will complete a two-legged play-off, to see what teams will be placed in the last 16.
Where do the four extra places come from?
Two of the extra four spaces in the competition will be awarded to the best performing leagues in Europe, which is known as European Performance spots.
Currently as it stands, Italy and Germany have the highest club coefficients for the 2023/2024 season meaning they each would earn a European Performance Spot.
The third spot will go to the third placed team in the league ranked fifth in the UEFA Coefficient.
The final place comes from increasing the number of teams coming through the qualifying path for champions from four to five.
(pic under creative commons licence)
