How the Champions League Format Works

Since the 2024–25 season, the UEFA Champions League no longer starts with eight small groups of four teams. Instead, all 36 qualified clubs play in a single “league phase” before the tournament moves into a conventional knockout bracket. Here's exactly how it works, stage by stage.

36 teams, one table

Every club that qualifies for the competition proper is entered into one combined league phase, ranked 1st to 36th by points, then goal difference, then goals scored. There's no group stage and no seeding into pools of four — just a single continuous table, the way a domestic league works, except every team plays a different set of opponents.

The pot draw

Before the season starts, the 36 clubs are split into four pots of nine, based on UEFA's club coefficient rankings (a club's recent European results). Each club is then drawn to play two opponents from each of the four pots — one at home, one away — for a total of eight league-phase matches: four at home and four away. Because opponents are drawn individually rather than in a fixed group, no two clubs play an identical set of eight fixtures.

Qualifying for the knockouts

After all eight league-phase matches are played:

• 1st–8th place go straight into the Round of 16.
• 9th–24th place enter a two-legged play-off round; the eight winners join the top 8 in the Round of 16.
• 25th–36th place are eliminated — there’s no parachute into a lower European competition.

The knockout stage

From the Round of 16 onward, the tournament is a conventional two-legged knockout, home and away, right through the semi-finals. Since the away-goals rule was scrapped in 2021, a tie level on aggregate after both legs goes to extra time and then penalties, exactly like a one-off match would. The final itself is a single match, played at a neutral venue chosen years in advance, with no replay — extra time and penalties settle a draw.

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