The Champions League as the big clubs want it

will no longer be a traditional group stage game. Rather all teams will be in the same group. Since 2003, the Champions League has had a new format. Especially now that this tournament is exactly what the big club wanted.

This time the number of participating teams has increased to 36. There used to be only the first 32 teams. Now each team will play at least 8 matches, earlier it used to be 6 matches. Now the Champions League matches will be held in January as well. In this case, the prize money will increase. This time, $2.8 billion will be tied to the prize, 25 percent more than the first.

Due to the new format of the tournament, this time there will be more matches, which used to be finals in previous editions. Like, defending champion Real Madrid's opponents this time are Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund. Real beat Dortmund in last year's final. For the finals of 2022 and 2018, Real defeated Liverpool. Now Real will host Dortmund and will visit Liverpool. The

date is yet to be decided. Manchester City also got a repeat of the final they played. City will face Inter Milan, who they defeated in the 2023 final, at home. Bayern Munich will invite Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), whom they defeated in the 2020 final, to their home. What this means is that now the format of the Champions League, which was played in the last 21 seasons, has become old and has been removed.

At that time, 32 teams were divided into eight groups. A team played six games in the group stage when the games were played on a round-robin basis. From September to December, matches were played on a 'home and away' basis. The top two teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage. Then a separate 'draw' was drawn. Before the finals, which ended in one game, the knockout stage games were also held on the basis of 'home and away'.

Now there will be only one league table. Each of the 36 participating teams will play at least 8 matches. There will be different opponents in these eight games as well. These games will run until January. A balance has been set for what kind of opponent it will be. Two top rivals from four different ranked pots will have to face each other. The top eight teams in the final table will advance directly to the last 16, for matches to be played in March.

The playing schedule of these teams will be divided into two different groups and a draw will be made like a tennis tournament. There will be no more 'draws' for the finals. In 2025, the final will be held at Bayern Munich's home ground. The teams ranked ninth to 24th in the points table will play in the knockout playoffs. These games will be held in February. The team in the last 12 places will be eliminated from the competition. The 9th to 16th place team in the league will play against the 17th to 24th place team. There is only one reason for breaking the old format of

competition and introducing this new format. It is, clubs want to earn more. The European Champions League is considered the highest competition in world football. Because of this competition, UEFA earns billions of dollars by selling broadcast rights to television stations around the world. From that, the club also gets billions of dollars. These funds are used to buy and sell players.

Again the club has another objective, a bigger club to play against slightly bigger opposition teams. That too regularly. Previously, each group played against only three opponents in each group, these games used to be less dramatic. Now when the big team plays against the big team, its attraction will increase. Viewers will be willing to pay more to watch it. There is another solid reason behind so many radical changes in the upcoming Champions League.

Lately, some big clubs have been in the mood for their own separate competitions. These clubs said that they will play Rebel Super League in 2021. It included 12 big clubs from Spain, Italy and England. However, this plan collapsed within 24 hours of the announcement. The form of the Champions League has also been changed to convince the big clubs who have threatened to play in the same Super League. UEFA was almost forced to accept the request of those clubs.

Due to this new format, this time there will be 189 games. It used to be 125 games. This has made the competition itself an even bigger competition. Two more rounds will be played in January. It can confuse the player. Players will get more tired. Domestic leagues will also be directly affected. After the first 6 matches, the knockout stage was reached directly. Some clubs now need to play at least 10 games to reach that stage. We will have to wait for some time to see how the competition will actually play out.