Real Madrid is the perfect closed loop! The biggest restructuring in the history of the Champions League next season: the switch to the Swiss round + the draw change

Nian Zhou

2024-06-02 14:23Posted in Shandong Premier League commentator, Tencent Football Special Writer Creator in the field of sports

On June 2, Beijing time, this season's Champions League final has ended, and Real Madrid successfully won the championship. From winning the first Champions League in 1956 to 15 crowns in 2024, Real Madrid has completed the closed loop, and from next season, the Champions League will usher in the biggest restructuring in history!

Real Madrid is the perfect closed loop! The biggest restructuring in the history of the Champions League next season: the switch to the Swiss round + the draw change

A look back at several changes to the Champions League

In 1955, when the European Champions Cup was created, there were only 16 teams participating, all of which were played in a two-legged knockout format, home and away, from the first round to the quarter-finals, from the semi-finals to the final.

For more than 30 years, the format remained largely unchanged until 1992, when the Champions League ushered in its first major change: the UEFA Champions League was renamed the Champions League, and the group stage began to appear.

However, the format at that time was that 32 teams played two rounds of the group stage to determine the quarterfinals, and then the eight teams were divided into two groups for the group stage, and the first place in each group entered the final to compete for the championship!

In the 1993-94 season, the top two in the group stage were changed to qualify, and they entered the semi-finals, with the addition of a semi-final. In the 1994-95 season, 16 teams participated in the main competition, first to the group stage, and then to the knockout stage, starting from the quarterfinals, which is more like the current format.

In the 1999-00 season, the Champions League was re-expanded to the round of 32, and a new format was born: the first round of the group stage was played, with the top two teams in each group qualifying, and then the second round of the group stage, and the round of 16 was divided into four groups, with the top two in each group qualifying, and then the knockout rounds were played from the quarterfinals.

It was not until the 2003-04 season that the second round of the group stage was cancelled and completely changed to the current competition, which was implemented in the 2023-24 season and lasted for 20 years.

Next season, the biggest restructuring in the history of the Champions League

From the 2024-25 season, the biggest restructuring in the history of the Champions League has come.

First of all, the expansion of the group stage from 32 to 36 teams and the elimination of the group stage will allow all teams to participate in the "league stage" and be ranked together, the so-called "Swiss round":

Each team will play 8 matches against 8 different opponents, with 4 of them at home and the other 4 on the road.

As a result, the draw made a huge difference:

1. In order to identify 8 different opponents, 36 teams are divided into four pots.

2. Each team draws 2 teams from each of the 8 teams in each gear as opponents, and the fourth pot is 8 opponents.

3. Play one game against each of the 2 teams drawn from each bracket, one at home and the other away, for a total of 8 games in pot 4.

After 8 matches, the top 8 teams in the "league stage" automatically advance to the round of 16.

The teams ranked 9th to 24th will be drawn for a two-legged knockout play-off. The teams ranked 25th to 36th will be eliminated and will not be able to participate in the Europa League.

In the knockout play-offs, the teams ranked 9th to 16th are seeded, and the draw is drawn against the teams ranked 17th to 24th, with the seeded teams playing away and then home.

The eight winning teams advance to the round of 16 against the top eight "seeded teams" in the quarter-finals, followed by the quarter-finals and semi-finals, with the final being decided at a neutral venue.

Of the 36 Champions League places, 32 will be allocated in the same format as the existing one, and the four new quota places will be allocated according to the following rules:

1st place: awarded to the team in the 3rd place in the league with the 5th best European points (Ligue 1 next season);

2nd place: awarded to the champion team of the domestic league, increasing the number of teams to qualify for the Champions League qualification "Champion Route" from the previous 4 to 5; (Qualifying "Champion Pathway": The champion teams of each national league that do not qualify for the main tournament compete for 5 places in the main tournament through the qualifying tournament in which only the league champion team participates.) ）

The 3rd and 4th places are awarded to the club's two leagues with the most European points (Serie A and Bundesliga next season, and the fifth league can also play in the Champions League).

After Real Madrid won the championship, 29 teams have been produced in the round of 36 of the Champions League next season, and the specific teams and brackets are as follows:

Pot 1: Manchester City (Premier League), Bayern Munich (Bundesliga), Real Madrid (La Liga), Paris (Ligue 1), Liverpool (Premier League), Inter (Serie A), Borussia Dort (Bundesliga), Leipzig (Bundesliga), Barcelona (La Liga)

Pot 2: Bayer Leverkusen (Bundesliga), Atletico Madrid (La Liga), Atalanta (Serie A), Juventus (Serie A), Benfica (Portuguese Super League), Arsenal (Premier League), Club Brugge (Belgian Liga), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukrainian Super League)

Pot 2/3: AC Milan (Serie A)

Pot 3: Feyenoord (Eredivisie), Sporting (Portuguese Super League), PSV Eindhoven (Eredivisie)

Pot 3/Pot 4: Celtic (Premier League), Monaco (Ligue 1), Aston Villa (Premier League), Bologna (Serie A), Girona (La Liga), Stuttgart (Bundesliga)

Pot 4: Graz Storm (Austrian Ligue 1), Brest (Ligue 1)

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