Champions League format explained: league phase to final

The old group stage of eight groups of four was replaced from 2024/25. Now:

• 36 clubs take part: 29 qualify directly (mainly by league position, plus the previous season's Champions League and Europa League winners) and 7 come through the qualifying rounds.
• The clubs are split into four pots of nine, based on UEFA club coefficients. The title holders head Pot 1.
• Each club is drawn against two opponents from each pot, playing one at home and one away. That's 8 matches: 4 home and 4 away.
• A club can't face a team from its own country, and can face no more than two clubs from any one other country.
• In total the league phase has 144 matches (36 clubs × 8 matches ÷ 2), spread over eight matchdays from September to late January.

Because every club plays a different set of opponents, there are no groups and no "group of death". Everyone is ranked in one table.

How the table is ranked

Points work as usual: 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a defeat (see league tables explained). Clubs level on points are separated first by goal difference, then goals scored, then away goals scored, then wins and away wins, and after that by further criteria such as the strength of the opponents faced. Unlike the old group stage, head-to-head results aren't used, because most level clubs never play each other.

Two things are different from the old format:

• No drop into the Europa League. Clubs that finish 25th–36th are simply out. Under the old system, third-placed group teams moved into the Europa League.
• Position matters all the way down the table. Finishing 8th instead of 9th saves two extra matches; finishing 16th instead of 17th gives home advantage in the second leg of the play-off.

The knockout bracket is built from the league positions, so higher-placed clubs get a theoretically easier path. The top two finishers are placed in opposite halves of the bracket, so they can only meet in the final.

From the knockout play-off to the semi-finals, every tie is played over two legs, one at each club's stadium. The team that scores more goals over the two matches (the aggregate score) goes through.

• The away goals rule was abolished by UEFA from the 2021/22 season. Goals scored away no longer count extra.
• If the aggregate score is level after 90 minutes of the second leg, the tie goes to extra time (2 × 15 minutes) and then, if still level, a penalty shoot-out. See extra time and penalties.
• The higher-ranked club from the league phase plays the second leg at home in the play-off and round of 16.

The final is a single match at a neutral venue chosen in advance by UEFA. If it's level after 90 minutes, it goes to extra time and penalties. The winner qualifies for the next season's Champions League league phase.

The league phase changed the betting picture in a few ways:

• More meaningful matches late on. With one table and cut-offs at 8th, 16th and 24th, many clubs still have something to play for on the final matchdays.
• Fewer "dead rubbers", but different motivations. A club already sure of the top eight may rotate; a club fighting for 24th may not. Check the line-ups and the trends before trusting form alone.
• Two-legged ties change the 90-minute markets. A team leading by two goals after the first leg may be happy with a draw in the second leg. The 1X2 market is still settled on that single match's 90 minutes, while "to qualify" covers the whole tie, extra time and penalties included; see 1X2 betting.

You can follow the full table, fixtures and results on our Champions League page, and see match-by-match picks on our predictions page.