UEFA announced on Monday that teams from the same country will have increased opportunities to face each other in the revamped UEFA Champions League 2023-24. The round of 16 draw will no longer have “country protection,” allowing for an open draw. Additionally, in the new league stage, two teams from a high-ranked nation may be paired together to prevent a deadlock in the draw, as acknowledged by UEFA.
“Exceptionally, a maximum of one match per club against another club from the same association may be allowed for associations with four or more clubs in the league phase,” UEFA said in a letter to European soccer officials published Monday.
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The current format of separating teams from the same country in the group stage will change in the 2024-25 season for the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League. All three competitions will adopt a 36-team format with a single standings table.
In the league phase, Champions League and Europa League teams will play eight games each, concluding in January. Conference League teams will have six rounds, ending in December. With the introduction of additional games, drawn from four seeding pots of nine teams each, country protection cannot be guaranteed for the most successful nations.
The letter confirmed further changes to the traditional appearance of UEFA club competitions. Instead of the current practice of conducting a fresh draw for each round, teams advancing to the knockout stages will be placed in a seeded bracket, similar to a tennis tournament. This bracket will keep the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds separate until the final.
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UEFA said this was “to strengthen the synergy between league and knockout phases and to provide more sporting incentives to the league phase.” Teams finishing top of the 36-team standings will be the No. 1 seed and those placed second to eighth will be seeded accordingly in the round of 16.
In the new knockout playoff round, teams ranked ninth to 16th will be seeded. They will be drawn against unseeded teams placed 17th to 24th. The revamped UEFA formats will create more midweek games. The Champions League is set to start exclusively from Tuesday to Thursday on September 17-19, 2024.
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The Europa League will have its exclusive season launch on September 25-26, one week after the Champions League.The Conference League will start on October 3 and feature an exclusive match night on December 19. The league stages in the top two tiers will continue until January.
The Champions League’s seventh round is scheduled for January 21-22. All teams will be in action for the decisive eighth round on January 29.
A change in the Champions League involves granting direct entry to a team in the qualifying rounds if the previous season’s champion already secured their place through their domestic league position.
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