UEFA Champions League 2025/26: The new format explained in detail

ByDavid Mitchell
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Next, we present a complete review of the dispute system of the most important world football club tournament.

The UEFA Champions League It will continue in this edition with the new format that has more teams in the main phase (it passed from last year from 32 to 36) and to advance round The “Swiss system” will be used.

What are the motivations of change?

As UEFA reported for the previous edition, “the new League format will involve more European teams in each competition and will allow fans not only to see more European first -line matches, but also that these meetings are held before in the competition.” In addition, he states that “he will introduce a greater competitive balance between all teamswith the possibility that each of them faces rivals of a competitive level similar throughout the League Phase. “

The Main round (it is no longer a “group stage”) will have more games, since There will be eight dates instead of six. In addition, there will be more duels between important teams, which will add attractive from the beginning of the tournament. In total, 225 games will be played, almost double the old format, in which 125 were played.

What is the “Swiss format”?

Instead of dividing teams into eight groups of four; All clubs are located within a single table, with the 36 participants.

So who play each team against? The table is similar to that of a league, but of course they don’t face all against all. The system is used in chess and eSports, but it is not exactly the same. In the Champions will be a raffle with four bombs (according to UEFA coefficient) and each team He will know before the beginning of the contest his eight rivals, two of each hype. He will play four games at home and four visitor.

The results will be reflected in a single table and the first eight classified teams of the league phase will advance directly to the round of 16. While from 9º to 24º they must overcome an extra round. The equipment that ends from the 25th place will be eliminated.

How many teams will play the novel Champions and how will they qualify?

The number of clubs participating in the main phase increased, passing 32 to 36. All classified will be by sports, that is, there will be no guests. There is 29 directly classified to the league phase and 7 that come from the previous phases.

Where will the four extra teams come from?

1) the team that occupies the third place in the fifth league of the UEFA ranking It will pass directly to the group stage (currently, this club must play two qualifying rounds). Historically, that league has almost always been the French.

2) An additional team through the qualifying route called “Champions Path”in which the leagues located outside the top 10 positions of the coefficient by UEFA countries participate.

3 and 4) Two places are reserved for Two countries with the greatest coefficient in the current season.

How will the fixtures decide?

UEFA will form four bombs with nine teamswhich will be based on the quinquenal club coefficient. Each team will play against two rivals of each boat (One of the premises, another of a visitor) to create a fixture with eight more or less similar strength matches.

The draw was almost entirely “computerized“, since UEFA states that manually drawing the opponents of each club, as was the case in the previous format, with former high profile players, would take up to four hours due to complex considerations within the raffle.

More “parties” will be created by the teams that make up the first boats facing each other, which was impossible within the current system.

For example, the Bombo 1 teams would face two other clubs of the bombo 1, 2, 3 and 4. The prohibition of groups phase between teams of the same association is maintained.

BY BOME 1: PSG, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern, Liverpool, Inter, Chelsea, Dortmund and Barcelona.

Bombo 2: Arsenal, Leverkusen, Atlético de Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht.

Bombo 3: Tottenham, PSV, Ajax, Naples, Sporting, Olympiacos, Slavia de Prague, Marseille.

Bombo 4: Monaco, Ferencvaros, Galatasaray, Union SG, Athletic and Newcastle.

Who would classify direct elimination phases?

The first 8 will go directly to the round of 16. The clubs that occupy the positions between 9 and 24 will face in round -trip meetings in a previous phase (playoffs or 16vos of the end), whose winners will advance to face the direct classified, while the losers will fall eliminated. There will be no decreases to the Europa League qualifiers from the 2024-25 season. Clubs that are located between positions 25 and 36 will be immediately outside Europe.

This means that the team that is located 24 of the group stage, a sufficient seat for a quota in Europa League under the current system is likely to advance to the champion of Europe.

The competition will return to the traditional format from the round of 16.

When does the league phase begin?

The 36 teams classified to the League phase will take action next September 16 In the first of the eight days that this instance will have, which will culminate on January 28, 2026. The direct elimination rounds, to meet the remaining eight guests at the round of 16, will be held between February 17 and 25, 2026.

The round of 16 are scheduled to play between March 10 and 18, 2026. The quarterfinals are scheduled to be played between April 7 and 15. The semifinals will be between April 28 and May 6 and the Grand Final will be on May 30 in Budapest, Hungary

What about the Europa League and the Conference League?

Both competitions will also be defined by the Swiss model from 2024, and their size will increase from 32 to 36 participating teams.

Eight group phase meetings will be played in Europa League and only six in Europe Conference League.

Again there will be qualifiers to advance to the round of 16 and there will not be a change of tournament for those eliminated in Europa League and Conference League.

David Mitchell
David Mitchell

As a passionate sports journalist with over a decade of experience, I strive to uncover the heart and soul behind every game. Supported by a dedicated team of fellow enthusiasts and storytellers, I am committed to delivering insightful and engaging content that connects fans worldwide. Together, we celebrate the victories, challenges, and unifying spirit of sports through every article we craft.