UEFA have unveiled the new rules for the upcoming Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League season, ditching the old format in place for decades.
Starting from the 2024/25 season, the Champions League will now be a league format with 36 teams instead of 32. Replacing the classic four team group phase.
Eight games will be played in the new league phase, each team will play two sides from each of the four pots.
The top eight teams will automatically qualify for the round of 16. Teams that finish between ninth and 24th will enter a play-off round. Teams placed 25th to 36th are eliminated.
The same rules apply to the Europa League. However, in the Europa Conference League teams play six games. One team from all six pots.
An exciting new era for European club football awaits 🤩
Here’s how the #UCL will look from 2024/25 👇 pic.twitter.com/mEffFOpX2O
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 4, 2024
Two additional spots will go to the best performing teams in Europe known as the European Performance Spots. As it stands, England and Spain are the top two sides in this coefficient meaning Tottenham and Bilbao would qualify.
Newcastle’s best chance of qualifying for the Champions League is now by finishing fifth. But with the Magpies 10 points behind Spurs, even this looks like a difficult task.
