The Champions League round of 16 second leg kicks off on Tuesday March 5, 2024. On one side, the German team Bayern Munich will meet the Italians Lazio Rome, on the other, the Spanish club Real Sociedad will face Paris Saint-Germain. Without us really realizing it, this is a last one: there will no longer be matches pitting, at this stage of the competition, the first and second in the group stages. .
From the 2024-2025 season, the latest reform of the Champions League, adopted on May 10, 2022 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), will come into force. The principle of this new version, of which the body revealed some details in mid-February, will be replicated for the other continental competitions – Europa League and Europa Conference League –, including for women’s teams. Among the main developments, the group stages will give way to a mini-championship of thirty-six teams, four more than with the previous formula. The challenge is to make the tournament more attractive.
Previously divided into groups of four, the participants in the Champions League will now play a championship, the “League”, integrating all the qualifiers. Each club will face eight different teams and will thus play two more matches than in the current format – three home and away matches, for six in total.
The thirty-six teams will be divided for the draw, into four pots of nine – according to their ranking in the UEFA club coefficient. The first will count those at the top of the ranking; the last, the least well armed. Each club will face two teams from each of the four hats. A system designed to strengthen competitive balance and suspense, since the “small teams” will face at least two teams of their level, while the big players in Europe will face two other giants from the start. The European organization hopes to offer beautiful posters from the first days of the competition.
As the ranking is likely to change until the end, the matches of the 8th and final day of the “League” will be played simultaneously – i.e. 18 matches on the same evening – to preserve sporting fairness. Enough to maintain interest, where the last day of the group stage could lack high-stakes matches.
The first eight teams will directly qualify for the round of 16. Those who rank from 9th to 24th place will be able to validate their ticket to the rest through a direct elimination play-off round with home and away matches. Clubs that finished between 9th and 16th place will be seeded for the draw. They will therefore face a team ranked between 17th and 24th place and will have the benefit of the field for the return match. The eight teams that win the play-off will qualify for the next round.
The posters for the eighth will be determined by drawing lots. The teams which finish beyond 25th place will be eliminated. No club will be transferred to the Europa League.
UEFA also provides for an “exclusive day” for each of the European cups, i.e. a week during which the other two competitions will not be scheduled. The Champions League will get the ball rolling in September 2024.
From thirty-two teams, the Champions League will now have thirty-six participants. How will the last four tickets be distributed?
With its reform, UEFA has its sights set on the Super League, a semi-closed competition project supported by some of the richest clubs in Europe, notably Real Madrid. In addition to ensuring that the best continental teams compete earlier in the tournament, the body insists on the “openness” of its system, where additional places depend on criteria presented as relating to sporting merit.
In the same spirit, the total participation and qualification bonuses paid to clubs will be increased from 2 to 2.47 billion euros, an increase of more than 20%. Furthermore, 7% of revenues from the three competitions – Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League –, or 308 million euros, will be distributed to professional teams which do not participate, compared to 4% today.
