The Champions League has long been the pinnacle of club soccer, a competition that attracts huge crowds and billions in global TV rights and sponsorship deals. It also showcases the highest levels of talent in the game and has enabled UEFA to steer billions in prize money toward teams that can afford the top transfer fees and salaries.
From 2024, the number of participating clubs will be boosted to 36, and the competition has already undergone some major changes to make it more exciting for the best sides in Europe. From the group stage onwards, ties will be partly decided by a draw which will also lay out the route for teams to reach the final.
UEFA’s rationale for the change is to strengthen the synergy between the league phase and the knockout stages, as well as making it easier for clubs to qualify for the final with better seeding. It also aims to provide more sporting incentive for finishing high in the league phase, and to give teams who play in the same group or country greater value from their knockout round games by ensuring they will face opponents from different nations.
The change will see the eight teams who finish in positions one to eight in the group phase enter a single knockout stage draw, and those who finish ninth to 24th are entered into a play-off round to fight it out for the remaining eight places in the knockout stage – with the higher-ranked team playing at home in the second leg.