36 teams in Champions League, letter to federations UEFA. The Champions League is changing from the 2024-25 season. UEFA wants to give an idea to the federations in advance about the format of the 36-team Champions League. The governing body of European football has therefore written to the federations to implement the new format. There will be a total of 100 matches including qualifiers in the Champions League. The game will be played three days a week instead of two.
The Champions League is changing from 2024. Instead of 32, 36 clubs will participate in Europe’s football championship. UEFA has written to the football federations of European countries to implement that process. According to the new format, UEFA has explained to the federations what the criteria will be for the clubs to go to the main stage after qualifying. Although the new format will be introduced from the 2024-25 season, UEFA’s aim is to give clubs a clear idea beforehand. Smaller clubs will benefit if the new format comes into force.
Read more : De Gea has left United after severing a 12-year relationship
From 2024, each federation will be able to send the names of a maximum of 5 clubs from their top league. UEFA has explained in the letter how the additional clubs will play. If the new rules come into effect, one team from England will be able to play more. According to the rules, the club of the country that will be the last champion in the league will get an opportunity to play an additional team. As Manchester City is the current champion, the FA can approve 5 clubs in the new format.
Second club will be selected based on ranking. According to the calculation of the last 5 years, the league of the country that will be in the 5th of the UEFA ranking, an additional club will be added from there. The remaining two places will be open to all. They will get a chance to participate through wild card entry. In this case, it will prevail that the two clubs have shown dominance in the Europa League and Conference League in the previous season, but they could not play in the Champions League.
There will be 100 matches including qualifiers. There will be no group stage in the new rules. Teams placed ninth to 24th will finish in the top sixteen after finishing the two-leg qualifiers. A country will have the opportunity to face multiple clubs before the knock out stage. The match will not be held according to the previous rules. Instead of two days a week, there will be three days of Champions League matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The top eight teams will play in the knockout stage.