MOSCOW, May 10 The Executive Committee of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) on Tuesday approved changes to the format of European cup tournaments from the 2024/25 season, according to the official website of the organization. According to the new format of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, 36 teams will participate in the tournaments from the 2024/25 season. The division of clubs into four teams in each group will be abolished, tournaments will be held according to the Swiss system. In the Champions League, each club will play eight matches against eight different opponents (4 games at home and away), after which the standings will be formed. The top eight clubs will advance directly to the Round of 16, while the ninth to 24th placed teams will play in a two-legged play-off to advance to the Round of 16. Four extra places created by increasing the number of teams from 32 to 36 in the Champions League will be distributed as follows: one place will go to the club that finished third in the championship of the country that occupies the fifth position in the ranking of UEFA national associations; one place will be awarded through Champions Path qualification; two more places will go to the associations with the best collective performance of their clubs in the previous season (total points scored divided by the number of participating clubs). Similar rules will apply in the Europa League, where all teams will also play a minimum of eight matches, and in the Conference League, where teams are guaranteed six games each. UEFA stressed that games would continue to be played mid-week, recognizing the importance of club performance in domestic competitions.
