The Champions League is undergoing a process of change. This year it will undergo a drastic change in format, in which the group stage will disappear in the way it has been played in recent years.
According to the criteria of
Even the draw for the competition will have changes. Last week, UEFA announced that it will be carried out in a hybrid way, that is, with a manual part, to draw the corresponding ball for each team and another digital part, which will determine the rivals of each club.
Each participant will play eight matches at this stage and not six, as was the case until the 2023-24 season, in a league format with 36 teams.
The top eight will qualify directly for the round of 16, those placed between 9th and 24th will play a play-off, two-legged, to qualify for that stage, and the bottom eight will be eliminated from the tournament.
The teams will be placed in four pots for the draw, according to their UEFA coefficient. The only seeded team will be the defending champion (Real Madrid, in this edition).
Each club will play against two teams from its own pot and two other clubs from the three remaining pots. There will be four home games and four away games. At this stage, there will be no duels between two teams from the same country, nor will it be allowed to play two clubs from the same association.
The renewed Champions League anthem
But this is not the only new feature of the competition. During the broadcast of the qualifying matches, something was revealed that many fans immediately noticed: the change of the Champions League anthem.
The piece is still the same, composed in 1992 by the British Tony Britten, a graduate of the Royal College of Music. But it is a new version, in which more importance is given to the vocal part, over the instrumental part.
This was the version that had been used in recent seasons, until 2023-24.
SPORTS
