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Champions League begins larger new period with Mbappé at Madrid and rematches of previous finals

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports activities Author

GENEVA (AP) — The brand new Champions League format kicks off Tuesday after greater than six years of planning, one failed proposal and one Tremendous League launch fiasco.

Ultimately, storied golf equipment who pushed for change from UEFA and created turmoil in European soccer received most of what they wished: Extra groups, extra video games and extra of them towards sturdy opponents, more cash.

Now there are 36 groups as a substitute of 32, every taking part in eight video games as a substitute of six, towards eight completely different opponents as a substitute of three.

Opening night time Tuesday hits a excessive word.

Kylian Mbappé begins his quest for a primary title together with his third membership, the report 15-time European champion Actual Madrid that hosts Stuttgart. Mbappé reached the semifinals in 2017 with Monaco and was a overwhelmed finalist in 2020 with Paris Saint-Germain.

In the end, all 36 groups will probably be ranked from high to backside in a single league standings that finishes in January as a substitute of conventional four-team teams that will finish in December.

UEFA has cleared its midweek schedule to relaunch the marquee membership occasion over back-to-back-to-back nights – six video games every by way of Thursday.

The brand new format

The league section by way of January is kind of easy. Every group performs a balanced schedule of eight video games — 4 at residence, 4 on the street — incomes three factors for a win and one for a draw.

Eight completely different opponents had been allotted within the draw final month by a software program program selecting two groups from every of 4 seeding pots. Seeding was based mostly on a group’s UEFA rating over 5 years of ends in European competitions.

Current champions Madrid, Manchester Metropolis and Bayern Munich had been among the many high seeds. Low-ranked pot 4 included debutants Girona and Brest, and long-time absentees Aston Villa, Bologna and Stuttgart.

Advancing to the knockout section is extra complicated, and UEFA recommended groups will want eight factors from eight video games to remain concerned.

The highest eight within the standings on Jan. 29 go direct to the spherical of 16 in March seeded Nos. 1-8.

Groups positioned ninth to twenty fourth within the standings enter a knockout playoffs spherical in February. Groups 9-16 will probably be seeded within the draw and play second legs at residence towards groups who positioned from 17-24. The underside 12 groups within the standings are eradicated.

The eight playoff winners advance as unseeded groups within the spherical of 16, which will probably be drawn right into a set bracket like a tennis match. That replaces the outdated system of separate attracts for the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Tuesday begins with “Miracle” rematch

The brand new period begins with two 1645 GMT early kickoffs that includes three European Cup winners from the Eighties — Juventus (1985) hosts PSV Eindhoven (1988) and Aston Villa (1982) travels to Younger Boys. Each are first-time fixtures between the groups.

Additionally taking part in are the 4 groups with probably the most European Cup and Champions League titles of their 70-season historical past.

Whereas Madrid performs Stuttgart, six-time winner Bayern hosts Dinamo Zagreb seeking to lengthen a 40-game, seven-year unbeaten run in group levels.

The standout pairing is AC Milan towards Liverpool at San Siro. Milan gained the final of its seven European titles within the 2007 ultimate towards Liverpool. That was a rematch of the 2005 “Miracle of Istanbul” ultimate when Liverpool rallied from 3-0 down at half time to win the fifth of its six titles.

Man Metropolis-Inter meet once more Wednesday

A newer rematch of one other Istanbul ultimate options the present champions of England and Italy. Manchester Metropolis, driving Erling Haaland’s scorching begin to the season, hosts an Inter Milan it beat 1-0 within the 2023 ultimate and is unbeaten in Champions League residence video games for six years.

It is usually an evening for recent faces. Girona, which is in the identical Abu Dhabi-backed possession group as Man Metropolis, will make its European debut at Paris Saint-Germain.

Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk in its first recreation within the competitors since a preliminary spherical exit 60 years in the past. Bologna nonetheless performs within the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara that has been its residence since 1927 and staged video games on the 1934 World Cup.

Leverkusen and Atalanta step up Thursday

The Europa League finalists final season now rise collectively to the larger stage.

Bayer Leverkusen’s solely loss in a outstanding first full season beneath coach Xabi Alonso was that Europa ultimate towards Atalanta. Now Leverkusen returns to the Champions League at Feyenoord, whose coach final season Arne Slot took the job at Liverpool that was first provided to Alonso.

Atalanta hosts Arsenal which has misplaced captain Martin Odegaard to an ankle damage suffered taking part in for Norway on Monday.

La Liga chief Barcelona with 17-year-old star Lamine Yamal goes to Monaco and probably the most unlikely fixture of all 18 this week is Brest vs. Sturm Graz.

Brest, based 121 years in the past, has by no means performed a European recreation and Sturm final performed within the Champions League 23 years in the past. The sport is being performed at Guingamp, 110 kilometers (70 miles) east of Atlantic port metropolis Brest, whose residence stadium shouldn’t be trendy sufficient.

Extra prize cash

UEFA has put at the very least 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) into the prize cash fund for the 36 golf equipment, a 25% elevate on final season. The title winner in Munich on Could 31 can count on to get greater than 160 million euros ($177 million).

Every group will get a fundamental 18.6 million euros ($20.6 million), then 2.1 million euros ($2.3 million) for every league-phase recreation gained and 700,000 euros ($780,000) per draw.

Every place within the standings is price more cash with shares of 275,000 euros ($305,000) per place: 36 shares, or 9.9 million euros ($11 million), goes to the group ending high in January and a single share to the last-place group.

Bonuses escalate from 11 million euros ($12.3 million) per group for advancing to every knockout spherical.

One other prize fund of 853 million euros ($950 million) is allotted based mostly on groups’ historic report in UEFA competitions and the worth of nationwide and world broadcast offers.

The Related Press contributed to this text.