New UEFA Champions League format explained

Confused by the new Champions League format? Take a look at our explainer video.

Transcript

00:00This season's UEFA Club competitions will see a brand new format with a league phase replacing the traditional group stage.

00:08Under the new format, in the UEFA Champions League, teams will play 8 matches against 8 different teams, 4 at home and 4 away.

00:17So, what does that mean for the league phase draw?

00:20Well, the new draw system is hybrid. A team is manually drawn and their opponents then randomly drawn by a dedicated software.

00:28Teams are seeded in 4 pots based on their individual club coefficients.

00:33Only the UEFA Champions League title holder is placed at top seed in pot 1, irrespective of its coefficients.

00:41Starting with the 9 teams in pot 1 then, a ball is manually drawn at random.

00:46An automated software then randomly draws 8 opponents, 2 from each pot.

00:51The software also randomly decides which matches that team plays at home and which matches away.

00:57Teams will face one match against opponents from each pot at home and one away.

01:03The software follows a set of principles, ensuring that teams do not face an opponent from their own national association

01:10and play a maximum of 2 opponents from any one other national association.

01:16While doing this, the software always calculates the draw will not at any point result in a deadlock situation.

01:25The same principles are followed in the UEFA Europa League while in the UEFA Conference League.

01:30Each side will face 6 opponents, one from each of the 6 pots.

01:34In this case, pot 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6 are paired so that one match is at home and one match away.

01:43This draw is the first step in the new format, leading to more matches involving teams of equal strength,

01:50more unpredictability and more top-level clashes right from the beginning.

01:55The new era of UEFA Club competitions starts soon.