This year’s UEFA Champions League has brought a whole new level of entertainment to competitive football. The footballing world is now seeing a whole new playing field and more games lined up.
But the group stage has people still in doubt as to how it actually works. Most fans are quite unsure if their team could even get the Champions League final tickets, given their current position.
In addition, adding more games and matchups has kept fans needing clarification about what the following games will look like.
In 2024, fans who got Champions League final tickets had the privilege of watching Real Madrid rewrite history as the most successful team in Europe, defeating Borussia Dortmund.
The game was not the final that most fans expected, with Reral being unplayable for the German side, but what was commendable looking back is the journey the Los Blancos took to win it all.
Real will be the last team to win the UEFA Champions League under the old format as we discover the new format.
The New Format
The main difference for this season’s Champions League is that the group stage has been replaced with a new ‘league phase,’ and the number of teams competing has increased from 32 to 36.
Previously, 32 teams qualified for the initial phase of the tournament. They were then drawn into eight groups of four, with seedings used to help determine which teams were placed where. This was the ‘group stage’.
From 2024/25 onwards, the first phase of the competition sees all 36 teams placed into a league format.
Each team faces eight others (four at home, four away), with these matchups determined by the league-phase draw. A total of 16 teams will then qualify from this phase to the knockout stage, which begins with the Round of 16 and follows the usual format (i.e. two-legged ties between two teams, with the winner advancing to the next round) to the final.
How many teams are in the 2024/25 Champions League?
There were 36 teams in the draw for this season’s Champions League league phase. That’s an increase of four from recent seasons. Those four additional spots were awarded to the nations with the best co-efficient score in UEFA rankings, which, based on last season, were Germany and Italy.
What is the ‘Swiss model’ the Champions League is using?
You may have heard this new Champions League format described as a “Swiss model.” This is another way of describing the switch to the new “league phase” format for the tournament’s first-round proper.
What is the ‘league phase’ and how does it work?
The new league phase sees 36 teams pitted together in one big table rather than divided into groups of four.
The draw was used to determine which teams will face one another during this first phase of the tournament. Each team will play against eight others, with four matches at home and four away. As is commonly the case in league football worldwide, teams earn three points for a win and one for a draw.
At the end of the league phase, the top eight sides in the table will qualify automatically for the Round of 16. Teams who placed from ninth to 24th will go into a playoff round, with seeded sides from 9th to 16th drawn against unseeded opponents from 17th to 24th. The winners of those two-legged playoff ties will also advance to the Round of 16.
The bottom 12 teams at the end of the league phase are eliminated.
Seedings were still used for the draw, a bit like the old group stage, so teams were drawn against a mixture of opponents regarding Champions League experience and pedigree.
There were four seeding pots, and every team was drawn to play a match against two teams from each pot.
In UEFA’s own words: “This allows clubs to test themselves against a wider range of opponents and raises the prospect for fans of seeing the top teams go head to head more often and earlier in the competition. It will also result in more competitive matches for every club.”
Can teams still drop into the Europa League?
Previously, teams who finished third in their Champions League group had a certain reprieve as they would drop into the Europa League (or, in recent seasons, a Europa League playoff round). However, that is no longer the case.
From 2024/25 onwards, the teams that finish in the bottom 12 places of the Champions League’s league phase do not drop into the Europa League. Instead, they are eliminated from European competition for that season.
How does the knockout phase work?
The knockout phase has remained the same despite the new expanded format for the league phase.
A total of 16 teams — the top eight teams in the league table, plus the winners of the playoff ties — will qualify for the Round of 16. From there, the old format of two-legged knockout ties is still in place: the winners of each tie advance to the quarterfinals, then the semifinals, and the final.
Fans looking to source Champions league final tickets can breathe easy, as the format remains unchanged from the Round of 16.
Before the Round of 16, the teams will be interlinked through different pools to play, but the exciting knockout stages will remain as is.
Earlier, the rule change for the goal advantage in an away game diminished some of the excitement and competitiveness. A change in the knockout structure would have also diminished the intensity.
When is the 2025 Champions League final?
The 2025 Champions League final will be held on May 31 at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.
Bayern Munich will hope that they have the determination to make it through to the final to bring home that home advantage. If they do make the final, Bayern fans will be the first ones in line to buy Champions league final tickets.
Last year, despite Manchester City and Arsenal being in the final knockout rounds, no English team could play the final in Wembley Stadium.
Bayern could change this.
