The European Football Association (UEFA) has approved important amendments to the Champions League competition starting from the 2024-2025 season, according to what the continental federation announced on Tuesday in Vienna.

UEFA stated that the number of teams participating in the new system will increase to 36 teams instead of 32, each team playing 8 matches against 8 different teams, 4 of them at home and 4 away from home in the league system.

The eight teams that get the highest points in the league stage qualify directly to the round of 16, while the teams that ranked from 9 to 24 will play two home and away matches, with 8 teams qualifying for the round of 16 as well.

The same system will be applied in the European League and the European Conference League, in which teams will play 6 matches in the first stage instead of 8.

"These decisions came after a consultative period in which we listened to the opinions of fans, players, coaches, federations, clubs and leagues," UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said.

"We are confident that the new system that has been chosen provides a real balance and will develop competition and provide solid revenues that we can distribute to clubs, leagues and football for roots across our continent."

Through the new updates, the European Union seeks to develop the competition and provide greater financial returns that satisfy the major teams in the old continent, especially after its attempts to create a new championship (Super League) with huge external support.

The four new seats will be awarded according to the following criteria:

  • One seat for the club that occupies the third place in the country ranked fifth in continental countries.

  • One seat for the club crowned in its country’s league, by raising the number of clubs qualified through the “Champions Track” from 4 to 5.

  • Two final seats for the associations whose clubs achieved the best collective results in the previous season (the total number of points obtained divided by the number of participating clubs).

These two associations will get a seat for the best-ranked club in the domestic league after the seats allocated to the Champions League.

For example, at the end of this season, the two associations that will add a representative in the Champions League, based on the collective results of their clubs, are England and Holland.