UEFA has just announced a new format for its competition set to debut from next season which will see an addition of 4 more teams to the original 32 teams participating in the competition to make a total of 36 teams.
The current, historical 32-team group stage format will transition to a 36 team league phase from 2024.
Each team will face eight different opponents, drawn from each of the four pots — resulting in 4 home games and 4 away games with total 8 games guaranteed
Teams that secure positions 1 to 8 will qualify directly for the round of 16. Teams ranked 9 to 24 will compete against each other in a knockout play-off round.
Teams ranked 25 to 36 will be eliminated from the competitions with immediate effect, UEFA confirms.
This change had been agreed years in advance, but shows the increasing grip and influence that the big clubs have on UEFA bringing in more games between the big clubs, while making it harder for them to be eliminated and harder for lower ranked sides to progress.
