
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has finalized its changes for the future of the Champions League, starting in 2024.
The Champions League will now be expanded to 36 teams instead of 32. Those 4 additional spots will be allocated to:
- the team that ranks third in the 5th-place domestic league, according to the UEFA national association ranking
- an additional spot will be given to a domestic champion via the “Champions Path”
- the last two spots will go to the nations that perform the best in last year’s European club competition
The last two spots were originally going to be given to the two clubs that had a high performance but did not qualify based on their domestic league standing. This suggestion was met with widespread criticism from fans. UEFA recognized this and changed the format.
Champions League qualification is largely based on domestic league strength. Each year, UEFA ranks each league based on their performance in European competitions. The higher your coefficient, the more automatic bids you have.
The 26 clubs that automatically qualify for the Champions League are as follows: the defending UEFA Champions League winner, the UEFA Europa League champion, the 10 domestic champions from leagues ranked 1-10, 6 runners-up from leagues ranked 1-6, 4 third-place teams from leagues 1-4, and 4 fourth-place teams from leagues 1-4. The remaining 6 spots go to clubs that qualify out of a 5-round qualifying tournament (Champions Path) or a 3-round qualifying tournament (League Path). A league can have a max of 5 teams in the Champions League. For example, the Premier League automatically gets 4 spots and will most likely have a 5th spot next year. These rules can change slightly based on the league the UCL champion and/or the Europa League champion are located.
Champion Path: To start, the 4 domestic champions from leagues ranked 52-55 are placed in a tournament in late June where the winner will advance to the next round. Next, the winner of the preliminary round and the 33 champions from leagues ranked 18-51 (except Lichtenstein). Each team is drawn with another team, and they play a two-legged tie in mid-July. The winner of each tie advances to the second qualifying round in late July. Those 17 winners plus the three champions from leagues ranked 15-17. LIke the first round, there will be a draw, and a two-legged tie will be played. The 10 winners advance to the third round of qualifying in early August. The two champions from leagues ranked 13th and 14th are added to this round. A draw is done again, and the two-legged tie is played. The remaining 6 teams are added to a pool consisting of the two champions from leagues 11-12 in the play-off round. The draw happens once again, and the winners of the 4 ties advance to the group stage. The losers at each subsequent round are placed in the Europa League Champion qualifying stages accordingly.
With the new changes, the Champion Path will have a greater number of teams so that 5 champions can advance instead of 4.
League Path: The League Path starts in the second qualifying round with the 6 runners-up from leagues ranked 10-15. Like the Champion Path, ties are drawn, and the winners of each two-legged tie advance to the third round. 5 more teams are added to the third round (3 runners-up from leagues ranked 7-9, and the two third-place teams from leagues ranked 5-6). They play the tie, and the winners advance to the play-off round where no teams are added. The remaining 4 teams are placed in ties, and the winners qualify for the group stage. Like the Champion Path, losers are placed in the Europa League League qualifying stages accordingly.
In 2024, this will change slightly as one of the teams in the third qualifying round will already have qualified. UEFA will add another spot to another league based on their coefficient.
The 6 teams that qualified join the other 26 in the group stage. 8 groups are drawn, and each team plays 6 games in their group with three games at home and three away. The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stage. In the knockout stage, ties are drawn randomly each time, and the teams play a two-legged tie. The winner of each tie advances, and the process is repeated until there are only two teams. The two remaining teams play a single game to determine the champion of Europe.
With 36 teams, UEFA has decided to create a league system instead of a group-system. Teams will play 8 games against 8 different opponents with four at home and four away. The top eight teams will qualify for the knockout stage while the teams ranked 9-24 will have a two-legged tie to determine the 8 remaining qualifiers.
While there is still some backlash from fans, the overall reception is good. I, personally, like the old format more, but I am interested to see where this goes.
Leave a Reply