Why the new Champions League format is here to stay
The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League is already in full flow, and despite the early suspicion about UEFA's idea, fans and players have begun adjusting to the reality of the new format.
Europe's premier club competition has existed since 1955, with the Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens or European Champion Clubs' Cup being the first name and 'format' of the tournament.
However, UEFA has continuously evolved and adapted the competition to keep up with broader changes in the game.
The competition became even more intriguing in 1992 when it adopted a new format and name: the UEFA Champions League. However, the most recent update is arguably its greatest, making it even more entertaining.
The new format explained
From 1992 until last season, 32 teams participated in the Champions League group stage. These 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four teams, and each team played each other home and away to qualify for the next stage.
However, under the new format, 36 teams enter into the first phase, called the league phase. All competing teams participate in a single league competition in which they are ranked together.
To determine those who will progress to the next stage, each participant will face eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away.
The results of each match will decide the overall ranking in the new league, with three points for a win and one for a draw still applying.
At the end of the league phase, the top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged knock-out phase playoff to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.
2024/25 UCL league phase early impression
Two rounds of the league phase have already been played this season, and we are beginning to see what it offers.
Although less than 5% of the total games that will be played in the tournament this season have been played, we have already seen some epic battles and exciting games.
For example, Bayern Munich opened their league phase game with a record-breaking 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb. However, the Bavarians went from being record-breakers in the first game to losing their own long-standing 41-game unbeaten Champions League group stage record in the second game when they were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid, defending champions and one of the favourites for the title this season, has struggled so far.
They limped to a win in their first game before losing to French side Lille in the second game.
Lille's victory over Los Blancos ended their 36-match unbeaten streak in the tournament.
While the big boys have had a rude awakening in the tournament, some smaller teams, like Champions League debutants Brest, have continued to defy the odds.
The French side has won their first two games, albeit against small opponents, and their success story so far is exactly what the new Champions League format is about. Brest sit in second place in the league phase.
Elsewhere, Portuguese side Benfica and last season's finalists, Borussia Dortmund, have also enjoyed strong starts.
The latter is currently at the top of the UCL league phase table, while the former is third after beating Atletico Madrid 4-0 in their last game.
While the new Champions League format is still in its early days, and the sample size is too small to determine whether the new competition will be a success, there is enough evidence to say that the new UCL is already a big hit and is here to stay.
But why is the new UEFA Champions League here to stay?
We explore a few reasons in this article.
More games and entertainment
Football is all about entertainment, and the new Champions League offers a lot of it.
For starters, it features more games in the league phase, which means more entertainment for fans.
Each team will play at least two more games than in the former format. Some teams will play even four more games in total, with clubs who finish between 9th and 24th position set to play a double-legged playoff to advance to the next stage.
While the extra games mean an additional load on the players, there is no question that football exists for the fans, and the new opium, the desire for entertainment, will keep the new UCL format going for years.
More money
Of course, money is at the heart of many innovations, and the new UEFA Champions League is no different.
The latest UCL update will bring more money to UEFA and, of course, the participating clubs.
For the expanded 2024/25 campaign, competition organisers announced that the total purse for this season's Champions League would increase to €2.437 billion from €2.03 billion in 2023/24.
According to UEFA, each of the 36 clubs that qualify for this season's league phase can expect to receive a €18.62m allocation, split into a €17.87m down payment and €750,000 balance.
Last season, that sum was €15.64 million for participating clubs. So, across the board, every club will get at least €2 million from UEFA this season for playing in the expanded tournament.
This sum excludes the amount they will get from UEFA Champions League ticket sales and other club merchandise.
So, while there is genuine concern about more games, clubs and UEFA have the incentive of more money to keep this latest tournament format going for years.
Greater competitiveness
Besides bringing more money and being more entertaining because it has more games, the latest Champions League upgrade comes with more competitiveness.
Borussia Dortmund’s run to the Champions League final and Atalanta’s Europa League win all featured in the top upsets in Europe’s top five leagues last season. This campaign is likely to feature even more upsets from the UCL.
This is thanks to the new format, which has introduced a better competitive balance between all the teams, with each team able to play opponents of a similar competitive level throughout the league phase.
Unlike in former years, when the top teams usually met after the group stages, the new format ensures that the top European sides meet earlier in the competition.
In the new format, every game counts. This means that every result has the potential to dramatically change a team's position up to and including the very last matchday.
Winning or losing the last game of the league phase could decide whether a side qualifies automatically for the last 16, enters the playoffs, or is eliminated from the competition altogether.
Furthermore, the fact that teams no longer have the incentive to drop to the Europa League if they finish third in their group stage leads to greater commitment in each game and, thus, more competitiveness.
Unpredictability
The new format also makes the tournament more unpredictable, as we have already found out.
Real Madrid being beaten by Lille or Atletico Madrid losing to Benfica may be something anyone imagined when the season started.
But few could have predicted that those losses would have Los Blancos and their city rivals sitting outside the automatic qualification spot while the likes of Brest, Dortmund, Benfica, and Aston Villa are in the top places.
Interestingly, we did predict that Unai Emery's side could be one of the surprise packages in the UCL this season. However, some of the teams expected to mount a surprise run to the final are lagging.
That said, there are at least six games still to play, and it is too early to conclude what the final league standings will be. Yet unlike in former years, when it was more predictable, the results so far suggest that the new format is unpredictable.
This bodes well for the tournament, especially for fans of the so-called smaller teams.
Conclusion
There was much scepticism when the new Champions League format was announced, with UEFA accused of being only interested in making more money.
However, now that the games have started, it is becoming increasingly clear why the new UCL format was proposed and why it should be maintained for the foreseeable future.
