mini-championship, rain of matches, a third directly qualified French club… What will the Champions League look like in 2024?

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The UEFA executive committee meeting on Tuesday in Vienna finalized the reform of the C1, which notably validates the participation of more teams.

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The revolution is on. A year after approving the reform of its Champions League by 2024, the UEFA executive committee adopted the final format of these main changes on Tuesday May 10. Here’s what to remember.

A mini-championship with 36 clubs rather than pools with 32 teams

The eight pools to distribute 32 teams, it’s over! There will now only be a single pool of 36 clubs.

But not everyone will compete. Each team will play eight games (rather than the ten planned during the initial project last year) against as many teams designated by draw.

A third French club automatically qualified

As a result of the increase in the number of clubs, France, the fifth nation in the UEFA ranking, is given a third direct qualification. The last club on the French podium had previously had to go through a tricky preliminary round in August. He will integrate from 2024, the single pool to try to qualify for the final stages.

Dams before the round of 16

The first eight teams of this unique pool will be directly qualified for the final stages. Those ranked between 9th and 24th place will meet for a play-off with the aim of reaching the round of 16. A round-trip confrontation in the form of a round of 16 for these teams. The 12 teams ranked above 25th place will be directly eliminated.

More matches

With four more teams and two more games per club, the first phase will therefore have 50 more games. The eight round-trip confrontations in the play-offs also increase the number of matches in C1.

The teams will enter according to their ranking in the national championships and not via their UEFA coefficient as was planned a year ago. “Qualification will therefore remain purely based on sporting performance and the dream of participating will remain for all clubs”, commented Aleksander Ceferin, tackling the SuperLeague at the same time. The matches will continue to be played on weekdays so as not to short-circuit the national championships.


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