The European House of Football tried to avoid this by all means, but in the end the "law of the stronger" won.

The Champions League, as we have known it for almost 20 years, goes down in history. Next week, the UEFA Executive Board will officially approve a new way, the format of competition in the Champions League, and the biggest change is the abolition of the group stage and increasing the number of participants from 32 to 36 clubs. The new competition system will apply from the 2024/2025 season and will be limited to a minimum of four seasons.

All participants in the draw would be divided into four "divisions" with nine clubs each, by strength and quality, and then it would be determined with which rivals they will play a total of 10 matches in the first phase of this new competition, five at home and away. . For example, the strongest clubs in Europe will play two matches against rivals from the strongest division, three against rivals from the second strongest, three against teams from the third "hat" and two against those from the weakest.

When it comes to filling the Champions League, it is not yet official, but it is expected that six places will be awarded through qualifications, and in 32 safe participants there will be 20 of the five strongest leagues, five from Germany, Spain, England and Italy. plus three from France, as well as national champions from sixth to 12th in the UEFA rankings. The other six places will be divided similarly as before, three for the champions from 13th to 56th place in the UEFA rankings and three for the runners-up in the league who are from 6th to 12th place in the ranking list. . All this is not official yet, and according to the announcements, it is expected to happen when UEFA announces on Monday that everything has been agreed.

Due to the large number of matches (180 instead of 96 current in the introductory phase, ie even 225 according to the new competition system, from the beginning to the final), they will be played not only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but also on Thursdays. When the mentioned 10 rounds are played, the top eight go directly to the round of 9, and the teams from 24th to XNUMXth place in the table will play in a kind of barrage - which will continue the competition in the knockout phase, and who will moved to the knockout stage of the Europa League.

The change of the system in the Champions League is expected to have some effect on the changes in the Europa League and the Conference League, but more will be known by the end of the year.