UEFA has approved important changes to the Champions League competition from the 2024-2025 season, the confederation announced 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 plays 8 matches against 8 different teams, 4 of which are at home and 4 away from home in the league system.

The eight teams that will pick up the highest points in the league stage will qualify directly for the round of 16, while the teams that finished 9th to 24th place will play home-and-away matches, with 8 teams qualifying for the round of 16 as well.

The same system will apply in the Europa League and the Europa Conference League in which teams will play 6 matches in the first phase instead of 8.

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

"We are confident that the new system that has been chosen will give 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, UEFA seeks to develop the competition and provide greater financial returns that satisfy the top teams in the old continent, especially after their 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 third-placed club in the fifth-ranked continental country.
  • One seat for the club crowned in his country's league, by raising the number of clubs qualified through the "Champions Path" from 4 to 5.
  • Two last 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 the Netherlands.