After the Champions League draw, here’s how the format works

The UEFA Champions League is again, however not how we have ever seen it earlier than. Some modifications are easy, others are extra sophisticated, and some may appear a little bit of a thriller till we get to the knockout rounds in February.

So, what’s the new format? How did the draw work? And what’s going to the league part seem like?

What’s the new Champions League format?

Let’s begin with the fundamentals. This season marks the primary time in 21 years that we have had a format change for Europe’s prime membership competitors. For the earlier 21 seasons, 32 groups certified and have been drawn into eight teams of 4. The highest two groups went by to the spherical of 16, with third dropping into the UEFA Cup/Europa League and fourth eradicated from Europe.

We now have 36 groups, however they will not be drawn into teams. As an alternative, we’ve the Champions League “league part.”

So, how does it work?

• Groups in positions 25 to 36 are eradicated in January
• The 16 groups in positions 9 by to 24 play within the knockout part playoffs, in February, to earn a spot within the spherical of 16
• The highest eight go straight by to the spherical of 16, performed in March

Additionally new for this yr: it is now not doable to drop into the Europa League from the Champions League (or into the UEFA Convention League from the UEFA Europa League). When you’re out, you are out.

From the knockout part playoffs onwards, the competitors retains its two-legged format by to the semifinals, with a conventional one-legged last, however with restricted attracts — extra on that later.

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What did the Champions League draw pots seem like?

Not a lot modified in how the draw seemed on paper, as there have been nonetheless 4 pots of groups that contained 9 golf equipment reasonably than eight. However there have been nonetheless some notable changes given the expanded area.

How seeding modified

Pot 1 used to accommodate the holders of the Champions League and Europa League, plus the champions of the highest six home leagues. Pots 2 by 4 would then be ordered by power primarily based on UEFA’s membership coefficient, which ranks golf equipment on efficiency in Europe over the earlier 5 seasons.

Now solely the Champions League titleholders have been routinely in Pot 1, all different positions are primarily based upon the UEFA membership coefficient.

Nevertheless, the brand new Champions League format means the pots themselves had much less relevance, as groups have been drawn to play two golf equipment from their very own pot. Beneath the outdated system, being in Pot 1 may provide you with a extra beneficiant draw, as you could not play a staff from your individual pot within the group part.

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OK, so how did the draw work?

Relatively than inserting groups into teams, the brand new draw format creates the fixtures. Every membership will play eight video games, with two opponents drawn from every of the 4 pots. One match from every pot will likely be at house, and the opposite away.

That is 36 groups and 36 distinctive fixture lists to be drawn.

There have been two most important ideas this season:

• No membership may play one other staff from their very own league (for instance, Arsenal could not play Aston Villa).
• A membership may play not more than two groups from one nation (if Arsenal drew Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, they could not then play VfB Stuttgart)

The draw ceremony was noticeably completely different, too. In earlier seasons, the fates of all 32 groups can be determined by a handbook draw, with balls and pots for groups and teams, by a parade of former Champions League gamers. However the brand new format is so sophisticated that it might have taken over three hours and require 1,296 balls.

Here is the way it labored:

• A staff was drawn by an ex-player on stage (beginning with Pot 1 and ending with Pot 4)
• A pc randomly chosen that membership’s eight opponents (topic to the constraints of the draw) after Cristiano Ronaldo pressed a button on the stage, and that additionally decided which match is performed house or away.

The pots may not be so essential, however they nonetheless had relevance as every contained a spread of high quality. The distribution of house and away video games was additionally essential given the vary of doable opponents for every membership.

NB: Whereas the draw created the fixture listing, the order wherein video games are performed is not going to be printed till Saturday.

The graphic exhibits how Liverpool got two groups from every of the 4 factors, and this created their fixture listing.

Here is the draw for some chosen golf equipment, and the attract full is right here.

Taking the common UEFA coefficient from the groups every membership has drawn, Paris Saint-Germain have probably the most troublesome job of these in Pot 1. The Ligue 1 champions need to face Bayern Munich, Manchester Metropolis, Atlético Madrid and Arsenal, with a median coefficient throughout the eight video games of 69.625.

The best draw among the many Pot 1 golf equipment was handed to holders Actual Madrid, with a median coefficient of 56.000. However they have to nonetheless host Borussia Dortmund in a repeat of final yr’s last and journey to Liverpool.

Regardless of drawing Actual Madrid, Barcelona and Arsenal, it’s Atalanta who face groups with the bottom common coefficient (55.375) from Pot 2.

Dortmund (and Brest) should additionally face each Clasico groups within the league part — however the Bundesliga membership’s job is made simpler by getting, on paper, probably the most beneficial draw from Pot 2, Shakhtar and Membership Brugge.

Younger Boys have the very best draw of all (53.125) with video games towards Inter, Barcelona, Atalanta and Shakhtar from the highest two pots.

And probably the most troublesome fixture listing belongs to Feyenoord (72.562) as they line up towards Man Metropolis, Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen and Benfica.

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Will the league part be thrilling?

There have been some feedback that the league part may very well be fairly boring, that there will be little to play for as the highest eight golf equipment will qualify on to the spherical of 16, and the following 16 will all go into the knockout part playoffs. We’re solely going to lose 12 groups out of 36 on the finish of the league part.

The league desk we’ve put collectively after seven rounds exhibits there ought to nonetheless be heaps at stake heading into the ultimate matchday. With solely 24 factors obtainable to every staff, the desk will not be anyplace close to as unfold out as a home league; certainly, it is doable for a membership to maneuver seven and even eight locations on matchday eight.

After seven rounds:

• Two golf equipment have been assured prime eight
• 17 golf equipment have been in rivalry for the six remaining prime eight spots
• 17 golf equipment have been assured minimal of a spot within the knockout part playoffs
• No membership was utterly locked within the knockout part playoffs
• 14 golf equipment have been vying for the final 5 spots (twentieth to twenty fourth) within the knockout part playoffs
• Solely three golf equipment (thirty fourth to thirty sixth) have been already eradicated

Bearing in mind the variety of matches and groups concerned, 15 factors will often be sufficient to complete within the prime eight, with 9 for a spot within the prime 24. There may very well be seasons the place extra factors are required, and certainly in our mock some did miss out on 15 factors as a result of inferior aim distinction.

To attempt to make each recreation essential by to the ultimate day, UEFA has linked a membership’s last league place to the knockout bracket, that means the place a membership finishes impacts their path. The upper you might be positioned, the simpler the route (primarily based on league rating) by to the ultimate. For example, the groups who end in first and second can’t play one another till the ultimate; those that are third and fourth would keep away from first and second till the semifinals, and so forth (try the knockout spherical chart to see how this falls into place.)

The query is how a lot these golf equipment within the center part will actually care about their last inserting. After all, in the event that they outperform their UEFA coefficient rating they may get a extra beneficial path to go deeper into the event, however even that’s reliant on the relative efficiency of others (e.g. they may play a prime staff who has had a below-par league part.)

In our desk after seven rounds, solely two golf equipment — Actual Madrid and Manchester Metropolis in first and second — have been assured their place within the spherical of 16, whereas the underside three have been out.

And that brings us to the mammoth last matchday, when all 18 matches will likely be performed concurrently — just like the final day of the Premier League season.

Positions may very well be altering each time a aim goes in, from these key spots close to the highest of the league to the golf equipment attempting to hold onto, or power their manner into the highest 24.

Here is what the ultimate desk seemed like.

Two golf equipment misplaced their locations within the prime eight, with a defeat for Liverpool seeing them fall 4 locations into eleventh. Inter additionally missed out after drawing, dropping one place to ninth.

The beneficiaries have been Bayern Munich and AC Milan, with wins taking them into seventh and eighth. Regardless of getting 15 factors, Inter and Aston Villa missed out on the highest eight on aim distinction.

Positional modifications may very well be extra pronounced within the battle to sneak into the highest 24 — as fewer groups are seemingly be successful matches. Certainly, victories for Atalanta, PSV Eindhoven and Girona noticed all three climb 5 locations and make the knockout part playoffs, ending twenty first, twenty third and twenty fourth respectively. Brest, Celtic and Younger Boys all fell out of the highest 24 with final-day defeats.

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When will the video games be performed?

UEFA plans to publish the order of the fixture listing on Saturday. Golf equipment can’t play groups from Pot 1 within the consecutive matchdays 1 and a couple of or 7 and eight, to stop a troublesome begin or finish. So, Liverpool can’t play Pot 1 groups Actual Madrid and RB Leipzig in these back-to-back weeks.

Kick-off occasions will stay the identical, with two matches at 5.45 p.m. UK / 12.45 p.m. ET and the remainder at 8 p.m. UK / 3 p.m. ET. Nevertheless, on the ultimate day of the league part all 18 matches will start at 8 p.m. BST / 3 p.m. ET.

UEFA has expanded the footprint of the European calendar to cowl 10 midweeks, reasonably than the six it used to. The Champions League will take up eight matchdays, with the spare two used to present the Europa League and Convention League their very own standalone weeks. Solely the Champions League will play on the week of Sept. 17-19, with the Europa League taking Sept. 25-16 and the Convention League on the week of Dec. 19.

The Champions League league part will now end in January, reasonably than December, with six video games performed earlier than Christmas and the final two rounds on Jan. 21-22 and Jan. 29.

With the brand new format producing a number of Pot 1 fixtures, when in earlier seasons there would not be any in any respect, UEFA hopes to create a diffusion of “marquee” matches throughout the matchdays. We’ll learn how these match into the schedule on Saturday.

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How do the knockout rounds and the bracket work?

UEFA used to carry attracts all through the knockout rounds, however the brand new tennis-style technique of utilizing the league rating to construct the bracket means simply two are required: one for the knockout part playoffs (Jan. 31), and one other for the spherical of 16 (Feb. 21) to finish the bracket.

There isn’t any nation safety, so for example, Liverpool may play Aston Villa within the spherical of 16. In previous seasons, nation safety remained in place till the quarterfinals.

The power of groups within the expanded event means some heavyweight groups are prone to miss out on the highest eight, and that would create some blockbuster ties early within the knockout stage.

The primary draw creates the knockout part playoff fixtures, with every staff having two doable opponents.

Golf equipment ranked 9-16 play the second leg at house. From this level, the place within the bracket is ready for these groups.

From the ultimate positions in our pattern league desk, the next knockout part playoff ties are doable.

On the finish of the league part the highest eight golf equipment will every have 4 doable round-of-16 opponents, primarily based upon the construct of the knockout bracket. They’ll play the second leg at house.

Taking our league desk, it might match collectively like this:

Actual Madrid (1) or Manchester Metropolis (2) would play:
Winners of one of many ties involving Paris Saint-Germain (17), AS Monaco (18), Benfica (15) and Sporting CP (16)

Barcelona (3) or Arsenal (4) would play:
Winners of one of many ties involving Stuttgart (19), Bologna (20), Juventus (13) and Atlético Madrid (14)

Bayer Leverkusen (5) or RB Leipzig (6) would play:
Winners of one of many ties involving Atalanta (21), FC Salzburg (22), Liverpool (11) and Borussia Dortmund (12)

Bayern Munich (7) or AC Milan (8) would play:
Winners of one of many ties involving Girona (23), PSV Eindhoven (24), Inter (9) and Aston Villa (10)