This year is the introduction to the new-look Champions League which has expanded from 32 to 36 teams. The new Swiss style system feels a bit more complicated und confusing but here is a bit of a breakdown.
No groups. There will be one league table for all the teams competing. Teams are still placed in pits (based on co-efficient) with 9 teams in each pot.
Instead of having 3 opponents, and playing each home and aways, each team will have 8 opponents and play 4 of them at home and 4 away. The 8 opponents will be chose through random drawing of 2 opponents from each pot. You can't face teams from your own country and can only face a max of 2 teams from any other country. This means that being in pot 1/2 no longer means you will avoided the other top teams and, in my opinion, makes it more fair for the teams in the lower pots who will have some games against other low ranked teams.
The pots are as follows:
Pot 1
Real Madrid
Man City
Bayern
PSG
Liverpool
Inter
Dortmund
RB Leipzig
Barcelona
Pot 2
Leverkusen
Atletico
Atlantic
Juventus
Benfica
Arsenal
Club Brugge
Shakhtar
Milan
Pot 3
Feyenoord
Sporting
PSV
Celtic
5 teams determine by playoffs
Pot 4
Monaco
Aston Villa
Bologna
Girona
Stuttgart
Storm Graz
Brest
2 team via play offs
Once the group stage has concluded, the teams occupying the top 8 positions will advance to the last 16. The teams from 9-24 will advance to a last-32 play-off with the winners joining the last 16.
The bottom 8 teams are eliminated. There is no more dropping into Europe league.
So the winning team will play 15 games (if they finish top 8), or 17 games (of they finish 9-24) which is up from 13 in the old format.
So an example of the 8 teams an English team could end up playing based on the pots is:
Home
PSG
Benfica
Celtic
Brest
Away
Dortmund
Juventus
PSV
Girona
New CL format
posted on 14/8/24
you can be knocked out because you got a much tougher set of rivals.
===
Newcastle would probably argue they got knocked out because they got a tougher set of rivals last season.
This makes it easier for all teams, as even Pot 4 teams get to play 2 other Pot 4 teams. Good chance that if you win those 2 games you progress.
posted on 14/8/24
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 6 minutes ago
Not sure how it's fairer to take the results a team obtains against 8 clubs and stand them up against the results of another side that’s potentially faced 8 different clubs, with the added factor that who you play at home and who you play away is also arbitrary.
City at home and Madrid away or Dortmund at home and Leipzig away?
Leverkusen at home and Arsenal away, or Brugge home, Shakhtar away?
Etc.
Each set of fixtures awards the same points, but instead of being measured against teams who've all faced each other home and away, you can be knocked out because you got a much tougher set of rivals.
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How do you feel about the long drawn out group stage, playing 8 matches each, only for around 70% of the teams to remain in the competition after the group stage??
And how do you feel this impacts on the importance, intensity, jeopardy in each match?
posted on 14/8/24
Itsa terrybubble 4mat
I wish moor teems had the curridge on faremindedness of Napoli in boycottin it
posted on 14/8/24
Nipples have boycotted it because they're shytte
posted on 14/8/24
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 hour, 9 minutes ago
you can be knocked out because you got a much tougher set of rivals.
===
Newcastle would probably argue they got knocked out because they got a tougher set of rivals last season.
This makes it easier for all teams, as even Pot 4 teams get to play 2 other Pot 4 teams. Good chance that if you win those 2 games you progress.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagine how facking boring that makes the mega group if a pot 4 team can beat two other pot 4 teams and progress? Imagine how little effort it takes for everyone else to progress
posted on 14/8/24
comment by John McGlashan (U1734)
posted 14 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 hour, 9 minutes ago
you can be knocked out because you got a much tougher set of rivals.
===
Newcastle would probably argue they got knocked out because they got a tougher set of rivals last season.
This makes it easier for all teams, as even Pot 4 teams get to play 2 other Pot 4 teams. Good chance that if you win those 2 games you progress.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagine how facking boring that makes the mega group if a pot 4 team can beat two other pot 4 teams and progress? Imagine how little effort it takes for everyone else to progress
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagine being this worked up over two extra games...
posted on 14/8/24
comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by John McGlashan (U1734)
posted 14 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 hour, 9 minutes ago
you can be knocked out because you got a much tougher set of rivals.
===
Newcastle would probably argue they got knocked out because they got a tougher set of rivals last season.
This makes it easier for all teams, as even Pot 4 teams get to play 2 other Pot 4 teams. Good chance that if you win those 2 games you progress.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagine how facking boring that makes the mega group if a pot 4 team can beat two other pot 4 teams and progress? Imagine how little effort it takes for everyone else to progress
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagine being this worked up over two extra games...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Still not getting it? It's not just the two extra games, it's the fact that pretty much no one goes out after the 8 games? What is there not to get?
posted on 15/8/24
comment by John McGlashan (U1734)
posted 11 hours, 34 minutes ago
comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by John McGlashan (U1734)
posted 14 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 hour, 9 minutes ago
you can be knocked out because you got a much tougher set of rivals.
===
Newcastle would probably argue they got knocked out because they got a tougher set of rivals last season.
This makes it easier for all teams, as even Pot 4 teams get to play 2 other Pot 4 teams. Good chance that if you win those 2 games you progress.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagine how facking boring that makes the mega group if a pot 4 team can beat two other pot 4 teams and progress? Imagine how little effort it takes for everyone else to progress
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagine being this worked up over two extra games...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Still not getting it? It's not just the two extra games, it's the fact that pretty much no one goes out after the 8 games? What is there not to get?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
11 teams get knocked out nearly 30% of participants isnt "pretty much no one"
posted on 17/8/24
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 2 days, 14 hours ago
you can be knocked out because you got a much tougher set of rivals.
===
Newcastle would probably argue they got knocked out because they got a tougher set of rivals last season.
This makes it easier for all teams, as even Pot 4 teams get to play 2 other Pot 4 teams. Good chance that if you win those 2 games you progress.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know how much of a chance they'll have making it through on 6 points out of a possible 24, but my bugbear is that teams will be compared on a like for like basis but based on different sets of fixtures, whereas qualification in the previous system was based on all of the teams in each group facing each other home and away.
Yes, you could get better or worse draws, but each side's progress was dependent on how they'd fared on the same set of games against the same opponents.
This new system to me is closer to the format used in intl tournaments for best 3rd placed teams.
As an aside, you're still going to get a last 16, and unless the juggernauts have done really, really badly, the will get a kind of play-in to atone for any major fackups in the GS.
On that note, will that play-in just be a straight draw, or will teams be seeded there too to try and ensure the big teams pushed into it get a smoother ride?
posted on 17/8/24
comment by John McGlashan (U1734)
posted 2 days, 15 hours ago
comment by it'sonlyagame (U6426)
posted 6 minutes ago
Not sure how it's fairer to take the results a team obtains against 8 clubs and stand them up against the results of another side that’s potentially faced 8 different clubs, with the added factor that who you play at home and who you play away is also arbitrary.
City at home and Madrid away or Dortmund at home and Leipzig away?
Leverkusen at home and Arsenal away, or Brugge home, Shakhtar away?
Etc.
Each set of fixtures awards the same points, but instead of being measured against teams who've all faced each other home and away, you can be knocked out because you got a much tougher set of rivals.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How do you feel about the long drawn out group stage, playing 8 matches each, only for around 70% of the teams to remain in the competition after the group stage??
And how do you feel this impacts on the importance, intensity, jeopardy in each match?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I largely agree with you.
The new system means the group stage knocks out roughly a third of the sides instead of 50%.
Some of the bigger sides might suffer according to who they play home and who away, but they'll need to really stink the place out in order to fail outright.
And I half expect the play-in round to be based on a 10-year ranking just to give them that little extra nudge. It'd be stupidly unfair, but I wouldn't put it past UEFA.