PA Media/dpa
London
The 2024-25 Champions League campaign launches this week under an expanded new 36-team format.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the major talking points.
Does bigger mean better? European football’s elite competition has been revamped for the first time since 1992. Instead of 32 clubs in eight groups of four, 36 will now compete in a single league.
Each team will play eight games, four home and four away, with the top eight automatically qualifying for the last-16 knockout stage and the clubs finishing from ninth to 24th place then facing a two-legged play-off to determine who will join them.
More clubs, more fixtures
The new league system will see an extra 64 matches played - an increase from 125 to 189. Each team will play at least eight fixtures, instead of six, and a maximum of 17 and the extra workload for Europe’s top players is expected to raise the issue of burn-out.
Some Champions League weeks will see games played on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, meaning head coaches will be more inclined to rotate their squads. It remains to be seen what effects this might have on domestic leagues.
Something for everyone
UEFA has moved to spice up its premier club tournament in the wake of the failed breakaway European Super League.
Critics argued there were too many meaningless fixtures in the previous group stage, which was dominated by the major clubs, and the new format certainly throws up some heavyweight
clashes.
An expanded format also provides opportunity for the smaller clubs, with the likes of Girona, Bologna and Brest among others joining Villa in competing in the Champions League for the first time.