Why UEFA?! Why would you change something perfect?

It annoyed us a little when UEFA introduced some unknown clubs with deep wallets and some silverware into the elite, but eventually we got used to those, and even became interesting to us. So much so that you've probably heard the sentence in pub conversations over the years: I don't know why are they changing something perfect, there is no better competition format than the Champions League. However, the clubs and UEFA apparently thought otherwise. Or better said: they thought it could be more lucrative, so after two full decades we are entering the last season in which elite football will be played with 32 participants, divided into eight groups.

It has been like this since the 2003/2004 season, it will be like this in the 2023/2024 season, but already from the summer of 2024 - we are entering the unknown again. It is not even the fact that 36 teams will play in the Champions League from now on, but the so-called "Swiss system" in which there are no groups, but each club plays eight games, four each at home and away, with opponents chosen by a draw, and then all teams line up on one common table.

The revolutionary system will be officially promoted on September 17, 2024, but the fight for the best possible starting positions starts today, because this season will also decide which nine clubs will be in the European 12 for the renovated Club World Cup starting in 2025.

So everything will be different, but let's start with the most obvious first. There will still be four pots in the draw, only now with nine instead of eight clubs. And each participant will get two rivals from each pot. They will play one game with each. The draw will decide whether home or away. In the first pot will be the current champion of Europe and eight clubs with the best UEFA coefficient. So, it doesn't matter if you are the champion of Portugal or the Netherlands. If, for example, we compare with this year's draw, there would not be Sevilla, Benfica, Feyenoord, and neither Barcelona nor Napoli in the first pot. Because according to UEFA's coefficient, the eight best in Europe are currently Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Inter Milan. It doesn't matter that Barca were ahead of Real Madrid in La Liga, and Napoli ahead of Inter in Serie A. But even that is not so important, because even if you are in the first pot - you will get two more rivals from the same one. No one is exempt from the rule.

And the three remaining pots will be filled according to the club coefficient. The ranking at the end of this season will be counted, and the last five competition cycles will be taken into concideration. The same principle, the Swiss system, will be applied in both the Europa League and the Conference League.

The first round, the ceremonial one, will be spread over three days, from Tuesday to Thursday, from September 17 to 19. The next six will be reduced to Tuesday and Wednesday, as is the case now. Only the last, eighth round, will be played on the same day - January 29, 2025.

The first eight in the standings will go directly to the round of 16. The teams placed from ninth to 24th place will have to go to the play-off. The rematch will be played at the stadiums of the teams placed from the ninth to the 16th position. The pairs will be semi-conducted, so there is no 'the ninth faces the 24th, the tenth faces the 23rd and so on... But it won't be much different. Because the ninth team in the table will go to the draw, but they will only be able to go to the 23rd or 24th. And so on. The draw for the round of 16 will take place in a similar way, with the fact that the first and second in the standings will not be able to meet until the final (Munich, May 31), something similar to the draw in tennis tournaments.

Whoever is eliminated in the playoffs or even earlier is eliminated there and ends the European season. There is no continuation in the Europa League or the Conference League.

Compared to the current system, we will therefore have four more participants: instead of 32 clubs, there will be 36 of them. So let's see which four teams enter. Firstly - third in the table of the fifth strongest European Championship. It's currently the Netherlands, although the French can catch up. Two more places will be given to the countries that achieve the best results in all three European competitions this season. So in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. England or Spain could easily get a fifth representative in the elite. Only this last, fourth additional place will be shared through the qualifications. The big change compared to the previous system is that the winner of the Europa League (usually Sevilla) will not automatically be a participant in the Champions League in the future. They will have to earn that right in the domestic championship.

The current season in the Champions League will also be a qualification for the FIFA World Cup, which will start in 2025 and in which 32 teams will play in the USA. Europe will have nine representatives, and Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City have already qualified as previous champions. Of course, the next European champion will also be there. If that feat is repeated by Real or City (Chelsea are not playing in Europe this season), instead of the last eight places, nine visas will be distributed through the Champions League. This has not yet been confirmed, but Gazeta dello Sport wrote in June that FIFA will only take into account the results of the teams in the last four seasons of the Champions League (from 2020/2021 to 2023/2024). According to that list, according to the current performance, along with Chelsea, Real and City, Bayern (84 points), PSG (66), Inter (60), Benfica (49), Juventus (47), Porto (45), Borussia Dortmund (44) and Barcelona (42) would go to the US. With the fact that Juventus will not be able to improve the ranking, because they are not playing in the Champions League this season.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 1

Tuesday

19.45: (2.55) Milan (3.50) Newcastle (2.85)

19.45: (5.20) Young Boys (4.00) RB Leipzig (1.65)

22.00: (1.63) Feyenoord (4.00) Celtic (6.25)

22.00: (3.05) Lazio (3.35) Atl.Madrid (2.50)

22.00: (1.75) PSG (3.60) Dortmund (4.90)

22.00: (1.10) Man.City (13.0) Crvena Zvezda (35.0)

22.00: (1.20) Barcelona (7.75) Antwerp (16.0)

22.00: (4.70) Shakhtar (3.70) Porto (1.85)

Wednesday

19.45: (1.63) Galatasaray (4.00) Copenhagen (6.25)

19.45: (1.40) Real Madrid (5.00) Union Berlin (9.00)

22.00: (1.58) Bayern (4.30) Man.Utd. (6.25)

22.00: (1.40) Arsenal (5.30) PSV (8.00)

22.00: (1.95) Sevilla (3.60) Lens (4.20)

22.00: (4.50) Braga (3.60) Napoli (1.90)

22.00: (1.45) Benfica (4.80) Salzburg (8.00)

22.00: (3.20) Sociedad (3.40) Inter (2.40)

***odds are subject to change