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4 months ago
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While Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid will cross swords in the Champions League final on June 1, on the lawn of Wembley Stadium, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is already thinking about the next edition of its three European competitions. And unlike in past years, the preparations are taking on a very particular flavor in the Nyon offices in Switzerland because many changes will be made in the format of the Champions League but also the Europa League and the Europa Conference League. Even if these announcements have been made official, a large number of observers of world football are still struggling to understand all the ins and outs of these multiple revolutions to come in the European landscape.
“UEFA has clearly shown that it is committed to respecting the fundamental values of sport and defending the key principle of open competitions, with qualification based on sporting merit, in line with the values and the European sporting model based on solidarity. I am very pleased that the UEFA Executive Committee has taken this decision unanimously, with the European Club Association, European leagues and national associations all agreeing with the proposal made. New proof that European football is more united than ever”, said UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. But concretely, what will change in the future daily life of Paris Saint-Germain, AS Monaco and Stade Brestois? Basically, not much, but in form, a lot.
A mini-championship of 36 teams
This is the great novelty of the format. There will now be no more group stages as such. From the 2024/25 season, 36 clubs – no longer 32 – will participate in the championship phase of the Champions League (former group stage), giving four additional teams the opportunity to compete against the best clubs in the league. ‘Europe. These 36 clubs will participate in a competition in the form of a single championship in which the 36 competing clubs will be ranked from 1st to 36th position. Each team will play eight matches against eight different clubs, playing four games at home and four away. To determine the eight opponents to challenge, the teams will first be classified into four hats. Each team will then be drawn to face two opponents from each of these hats (eight teams) by playing a home match and an away match against the two teams from each of the four hats.
The top eight teams in the championship will automatically qualify for the round of 16, while teams ranked between 9th and 24th will participate in a two-way knockout play-off round to ensure their qualification for the round of 16 of the championship. competition. Teams finishing between 9th and 16th place will be seeded in the knockout stage play-off draw, meaning they will face a team ranked between 17th and 24th, with home field advantage in the second leg. The teams which finish between 25th and 36th places will be eliminated and will not even have the right to be drafted into the Europa League. From the round of 16 onwards, the competition will follow its current format with two-legged knockout matches leading to the final hosted at a neutral venue chosen by UEFA, which will be the Allianz Arena in Munich. Moreover, the C3 and the C4 will undergo the same changes in their respective formats next season.
An unprecedented revamped calendar
But beyond the format itself. The calendar will also be turned upside down with certain adjustments, but with one constant: “All matches before the final will continue to be played midweek, given the importance of the domestic match schedule across Europe, while the final will continue to be played on a Saturday”, announced UEFA. Champions League and Europa League matches will take place between September and January, while Europa Conference League matches will take place between September and December. The big novelty in the calendar lies in the establishment of a special week dedicated to the three European competitions. Each of the three competitions will have an exclusive week of matches, the other two competitions will not be scheduled during this week. During this exclusive Champions League week, C1 matches will be played on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. In the exclusive Europa League week, C3 matches will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. And finally, during the exclusive week of the Europa Conference League, the C4 matches will take place on Thursday.
In normal weeks, Champions League matches will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, while Europa League and Europa Conference League matches will be played on Thursdays. In addition, UEFA specifies that for the last day of the championship phase of the three competitions, all matches will be played simultaneously: “Every game will count. The new league format will ensure that each result can radically change a team’s place, until the very last day. A victory or defeat can be the difference between a team automatically qualifying for the round of 16, participating in the play-offs or being eliminated from the competition., wrote the association in conclusion on its official website. In any case, Paris Saint-Germain, AS Monaco and Stade Brestois know what to expect. The meetings promise to be physical, rough and intense with a very busy schedule. The room for maneuver looks very slim. Competing for Europe is worth it.
