Champions League shake-up: explainer on the big changes approved by Uefa

The number of teams in the group stage will rise from 32 to 36 from the 2024-25 season, with each team now playing eight games

Chelsea's Kai Havertz lifts the Champions League trophy after his goal had given the Londoners a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the final in Porto in May, 2021. PA

A new format has been approved for the Champions League after years of debate about the best way forward for the competition. Here is an in-depth look at the changes.

What has been agreed to?

The biggest changes to the Champions League in a generation, starting from the 2024-25 season. A 36-team league phase will replace the current 32-team group phase. Each team will play eight matches instead of the current six. They will play four home and four away, against eight different opponents under a seeded 'Swiss system’.

The top eight in the league go straight to the last-16 knockout round as it is now – with the next 16 teams in the table entering a new play-off round for the remaining eight spots. In all, it means an increase in matches from 125 to 189.

If there are four extra qualifying places, who do these go to?

Two of them will go to clubs who have not qualified by the conventional route, but are the next-best finishers in the countries with the two best collective coefficient scores from the previous season. This score is calculated by awarding points for the performance of a country’s clubs in European competition. In four out of the past five seasons, this would have meant England gaining an extra place.

Uefa had previously proposed that these two places would be awarded based on an individual club’s coefficient score, based on performance over five seasons. This met with the approval of the European Club Association but was fiercely opposed by Europe’s domestic leagues and by fans’ groups, who said domestic performance alone should determine qualification and that it created a further safety net for the continent’s heavyweight clubs. It also created the possibility of big teams leapfrogging smaller teams who had finished above them into the top competition.

The third extra place in the new format goes to the team finishing third in the country ranked fifth in the Uefa country coefficient table – currently that is France. The fourth place would go to an additional domestic league winner via the champions qualification path.

Is this fair?

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin believes that it promotes open competition and that it ensures qualification is based on sporting merit. However, the current coefficient system awards bonus points for group-stage qualification, which means countries with the most automatic qualifying berths – like England and Spain – are at an advantage from the outset in the race for the extra places.

Uefa argues it is a balanced system, and points to the fact that under this system, Holland would hypothetically secure the second coefficient place in next season’s competition, based on this year’s European performance across all three continental tournaments.

What else is new?

The possibility – however unlikely – of some countries having seven qualifiers in the new league phase of the Champions League in a single season.

England could have the top four finishers in the Premier League, a coefficient place and have the winners of the previous season’s Champions League and Europa League, if these were seven different clubs.

Also, clashes between teams from the same country could happen earlier than they do currently – at the new play-off round instead of at the quarter-final stage.

Are two-leg semi-finals going to be dropped?

This had been reported, amid suggestions Uefa could opt for a ‘week of football’ in a single city after seeing the success of playing the last eight in a single venue in 2019-20, which was enforced by Covid.

However, Uefa is not planning to press ahead with this.

Real Madrid's Rodrygo celebrates his first goal in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid on May 4, 2022. Madrid won the game 3-1 after extra time, clinching a dramatic 6-5 aggregate victory in the tie. AFP

What reaction has there been?

The Premier League believes its two major concerns – the increase from six to 10 games and the historic coefficient places – have been addressed by the proposals, and that it reserves weekends for domestic football. It will now look at the detail of the proposals to ensure there is a complementary balance between European and domestic football in the calendar, with Uefa competitions set to be played in January for the first time under the new model.

The ECA has welcomed the agreement and says it delivers on a number of key objectives.

The Football Supporters’ Association tweeted to say it was relieved that the coefficient proposal had been dropped after fan lobbying.

Why has Uefa done this?

More matches means more money ultimately. Revenue in the 2024-27 cycle had been projected to increase by almost 40 per cent compared to 2021-24.

Where will this extra money go?

That is the next battleground. The domestic leagues and fan groups want solidarity payments to increase to avoid the gap between the richest and the poorest growing, while the top clubs believe their commercial pulling power should afford them a greater share.

Villarreal 2 Liverpool 3 - player ratings

VILLARREAL RATINGS: Geronimo Rulli – 1. The Argentine never looked secure. He let Fabinho’s shot go through his legs for Liverpool's first goal and should have done better for the second. His ridiculous charge out of his area for the third underlined a dreadful performance. AP

Juan Foyth – 4. Started badly with a poor back pass but stabilised his play for the first 45 minutes. Things went downhill when Diaz came on after the break. Getty

Raul Albiol – 5. The 36-year-old showed surprising pace to catch Jota in the first half. His use of space was impressive but he could not deal with Liverpool’s movement after the break and made way for Aurier with 11 minutes to go. PA

Pau Torres – 5. The Spaniard was efficient to a point but found himself overwhelmed in the latter stages. He did not get enough support from the midfield. Getty

Pervis Estupinan – 3. The Ecuadorian sent in a superb cross for the opening goal but found life uncomfortable as Salah and Alexander-Arnold got on top. The first two Liverpool goals came down his side. PA

Giovani Lo Celso – 4. The Argentina international was effective when his team were in the ascendency but shrunk when their dominance faded. Bright start, disappointing overall. EPA

Dani Parejo – 3. The Spaniard was the least impressive member of the midfield in the first half and was even less influential afterwards. By the end he was being bypassed with ease. AP

Etienne Capoue – 4. The Frenchman got behind Robertson at the back post to set up the opening goal and turned the Scot easily for the second. He could not keep up the good form and was sent off for two yellow cards with five minutes to go. EPA

Francis Coquelin – 5. The French midfielder had a good first half. He levelled the scores on aggregate with a header but reverted to his first-leg form after the break and made way for Pedraza with 22 minutes to go. PA

Gerard Moreno – 3. The Spain striker was struggling with a thigh injury and it showed. His tendency to wander offside spoilt a number of attacks. He was replaced by Chukwueze in the 68th minute. AP

Boulaye Dia – 5. The 25-year-old set the tie alight with his third-minute goal and he caused the defence some problems early on. It did not last and he became less effective as the game went on. He was withdrawn for Alcacer with 10 minutes left. AP

SUBS: Alfonso Pedraza – 5. The winger came on for Coquelin in the 68th minute. The game was closing down and he was never in a position to open it up. Getty

Samuel Chukwueze – 5. The Nigerian joined the action at Moreno’s expense in the 68th minute. He barely troubled Liverpool. AFP

Serge Aurier – 5. The Ivorian entered the game with 11 minutes to go for Albiol. He joined a defence that was dispirited and he could not arrest the chaos. AFP

Manu Trigueros – 5. The 30-year-old replaced Estupinan with 11 minutes to go. He tried to get some forward momentum going but his passing was poor. AP Photo

Paco Alcacer – 5. The 28-year-old replaced Dia for the last 10 minutes. His was a thankless cameo with little memorable about it. AFP

LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Alisson Becker – 7. The Brazilian was let down by his defence for the goals but, when he was needed, he stepped up. His one-on-one save from Lo Celso was brilliant. Getty

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6. The 23-year-old should have done more to stop Coquelin equalizing, and he had a rough first half. However, the value of his risk-reward approach was shown with his cross for the goal that made it 2-2. Getty

Ibrahima Konate – 7. The Frenchman often starts slowly but grows into the game. This was never truer than in El Madrigal and he finished the match like a boss. Reuters

Virgil van Dijk – 8. Chaos at the back? Two down? Then the Dutchman is the player to turn to. He was a calming influence when things were going wrong and a secure presence for the team. EPA

Andrew Robertson – 6. The Scot was beaten at the back post by Capoue for Villarreal’s opening goal and flummoxed by the Frenchman for the second. It was not good but no player worked harder to recover from that nightmare first half. AFP

Naby Keita – 6. The Guinean did not close down Estupinan quickly enough for the opening goal. He was so poor in the first half that it was surprising that he was not withdrawn. Instead, he made his mark after the break until substituted in the 79th minute for Henderson. AFP

Fabinho – 7. The Brazilian was swamped in the opening period. Then, when the ball came to him in a crucial position, he shot with conviction and brought Liverpool back into the game. By the time Milner replaced him with six minutes left, he was running the midfield. PA

Thiago Alcantara – 6. The 31-year-old sprayed the ball around in the first half – and not in a good way. He wasted possession repeatedly. Normal service was resumed after the break and he was replaced by Jones with 10 minutes to go. EPA

Diogo Jota – 4. The Portuguese had one effort in the first half but was unable to make much impact on the game. He made way for Diaz at half time. Getty

Mohamed Salah – 6. The striker was given extra attention by the defence but still caused problems. Diaz would not have had so much room had Villarreal not been keeping one eye on the Egyptian. Getty

Sadio Mane – 7. The Senegalese took a rugged approach that, initially, seemed not to work. His relentless effort wore the defence down and his reward was Liverpool’s third goal. AFP

SUBS: Luis Diaz – 9. The Colombian replaced Jota at half-time and changed the game. His goal was the least part of an epic performance that undermined Villarreal. Getty

Jordan Henderson – 6. The 30-year-old came off the bench for Keita in the 79th minute. His experience was useful but the game was over by the time he arrived. AP Photo

Curtis Jones – 6. The 21-year-old joined the action in place of Thiago with 10 minutes left. He forced a good save from the goalkeeper. Getty Images

Kostas Tsimikas – 6. The Greek was given 10 minutes for Robertson. He did what was necessary in his short cameo. AP Photo

James Milner – 6. The 36-year-old is the perfect man to lock down a result. He came on for Fabinho and did exactly what was expected. AFP