The new 2024-2025 Champions League, which will change its format and expand from 32 to 36 participating teams, starts with a projected value by UEFA of $4.754 billion, and responds to the will of the clubs that have been involved in its design since 2019, according to the organization.

The Deputy Secretary General and Director of Football of UEFA, Giorgio Marchetti, and the head of Club Competitions and Agenda, Tobias Hedstück, explained in a meeting with the media in Madrid this Thursday the novelties of the competition, along with those of the Europa League and Conference League starting next September.

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"The clubs are the foundation of this competition, it is a very long work. We started in 2019. This is what the clubs want. We have more diversity, it will increase the commercial value of the competition, and we protect the European domestic competitions. Each match can influence all the others, there is a lot of interaction, it is more unpredictable. I think we will see some benefit even in the league phase in terms of competitiveness, more unpredictable," said Marchetti.

In addition to the estimated value of $4.754 billion, compared to the $3.782 billion of this cycle, the new financial distribution increases solidarity payments by 10%, with 3% for the qualified teams and 7% for the non-participants, and also for the Women's Champions League and the "Youth League," which will receive $27 million.

The format will be as follows:

- Eight matchdays in the first phase, with 36 teams, and a unified schedule on the last one.

- The number of teams will increase from 32 to 26, and the group stage will disappear to play a single league phase, which will have 8 matchdays.

- The 4 new teams that will enter will be the third from the fifth association in the UEFA ranking; the one from the summer qualifying phase, and two others from the 2 federations with the best collective performance (this year Italy and Germany).

- The fifth place in Italy at this moment would be for Atalanta, already qualified as the winner of the Europa League. If finally in the Italian league Atalanta finishes fifth, the team that would access the "Champions" would be Roma, as explained by UEFA.

- The first draw of the competition next August will have four pots of eight clubs. The reigning champion, Real Madrid or Dortmund, according to the winner of the final on June 1st at Wembley, will be in the first one, and seven other clubs according to the UEFA coefficient.

- Each club will play eight matchdays, two of them with two rivals from the same pot, in order determined by draw, and the rest with those from the other pots. In the league phase, teams from the same country will be avoided, although the draw program contemplates exceptions.

- The first eight teams will advance directly to the round of 16. Teams classified from 9th to 24th will play a knockout round, in which the best positioned will be seeded and play the return leg at home.

- Those below 24th place will be eliminated, and none will move on to play in the Europa League.

- In case of a tie, the first criterion to decide will be goal difference. Then, if the clubs have faced each other, the result of the match, and if they haven't, the number of goals. Subsequently, the number of victories.

- The last matchday will be played simultaneously for all its matches, a system that will also be applied in the Europa League and the Conference League.

UEFA has also scheduled exclusive matchdays for each of its three club competitions. The Champions League will be the first, played on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

The Europa League, with the same format as the Champions League, will also be the first on Thursdays, and the Conference League, with 32 clubs and 6 matchdays, will be the last, also on Thursdays.