For more than 20 years, the format of the Champions League has remained the same: 32 teams playing in the group stage, divided into eight groups of four teams. The best two teams from each group played in the 1/8 finals (the group winners were seeded, the second teams were unseeded), and the third team was “relegated” to the Europa League. The only relatively minor change in recent years was the fact that the champions of the best countries were in the first basket (along with the winners of the Champions League and Europa League). For this reason, it happened that Paris Saint-Germain or Barcelona were relegated to the second basket and had a slightly more difficult group stage.
But the changes are now revolutionary, and the most serious since 1999.
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Four additional places in the Champions League
First: The Champions League was expanded from 32 to 36 teams. Who got extra places?
- Two places for representatives of the two best countries according to the UEFA classification for the previous season (Italy and Germany benefited from this by entering the fifth teams of their league into the Champions League: Bologna and Borussia Dortmund)
- Additional space for the main track with el. Champions League (Polish champion plays here)
- An additional place for the fifth country in the UEFA classification (currently France)
The second, more serious change, which is a result of the first, is the end of the group stage. From now on we will deal with the league stage. All teams will be placed in one big table.
Each participant will play one match against eight previously drawn opponents – two from each of the four baskets. Four of these matches will be played in front of the home team’s fans, while the rest of the matches will be played away from home.
It will be worth fighting for every point
Based on the results of these eight matches for each team, a common schedule will be created for all participants. Clubs from places 1-8. Those from positions 9-24 will qualify directly to the 1/8 finals. They will fight to advance to this round in the playoffs, which are played in a match-replay format (9th team from 24th, 10th from 23rd, etc.). Teams ranked 25th and below will definitely be eliminated from the cups.
Most importantly, in this stage, clubs from the same country will be able to play against each other (until now they could only play from the quarter-finals). The other change is the fact that no one will be relegated from LM to LE, and no one will be relegated from LE to LKE in the spring.
There is an additional incentive for the top clubs to fight for three points in every match, which is that the seeding from the league stage will also apply to the quarter-finals and semi-finals. “In order to enhance synergy between the league phase and the knockout phase, as well as to have a greater sporting incentive during the league phase, the pairings in the knockout phase will be partly determined by the standings of the league phase,” UEFA wrote in its statement. a permit.
The Champions League will be drawn by computer
In this way, the Champions League will “expand” significantly – instead of 125 matches, 189 matches will be played, which will also increase the prize money for the clubs. Due to the level of complexity, the drawing system will be changed. As UEFA Deputy Secretary General Giorgio Marchetti explained, if the new competition system is used, the ceremony will last three or four hours and approximately 900 balls will have to be prepared. For this reason, only a small part of the drawing will be done by hand, and the rest will be done by computer.
A similar system will be applied in the European League and the European Conference League. However, in the latest competition, teams will play not eight, but six matches in the league stage.
UEFA will set 10 dates for the league stage in all competitions. Each competition will have an exclusive competition to fully focus viewers’ attention.
source:Onet Sports Review
Date of creation: 2 June 2024 at 07:30
Journalist for the newspaper Przeglad Sportuy One
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