Following controversies stemming from the league-wide format, big changes are coming to the Champions League come 2024.
It was announced that the UEFA will alter the format, reformatting the group stage by reducing the rounds from 10 to 8, and, most importantly, removing the backup places for teams based on historical performance, in place awarding the slots to the best performing European teams.
In an official statement released by President Aleksander Čeferin, it was stated that: “UEFA has clearly shown today that we are fully committed to respecting the fundamental values of sport and defending the key principle of open competitions, with qualification based on sporting merit, fully in line with the European sports model.”
He went further in stating that non-harboring teams based off of precedence “strike the right balance” within the sport, enhancing the quality of the games and ideally generating more revenue and exposure.
The rule will be taken into effect ahead of Swiss model in 2024, potentially featuring current finals adversaries, Real Madrid and Liverpool, who face one another on May 28th.
