Champions League 2025: Five ways new format has transformed tournament
2025-01-30
Category: sports

The revamped Champions League's new league phase reached a thrilling climax on Wednesday night - and what an evening we had.  Manchester City looked like they were heading out of the competition altogether at half-time in their match against Club Brugge. Meanwhile, Aston Villa were in a real scrap against Celtic before they secured a spot in the coveted top-eight places and an automatic spot in the last 16.With the play-offs next, BBC Sport looks at what has worked, what hasn't, and how Uefa's top club tournament has shaped up so far.
More excitement and jeopardy?
Going into the final group games last term, 13 teams had already secured qualification for the last 16.But this season, only Liverpool and Barcelona were guaranteed a place in the last 16 - gained by finishing in the top eight places in the league. So with 27 teams still having something on the line an exciting finale to the league phase was anticipated. And it lived up to its billing, with City one of the big stories, as they came from behind to win 3-1, and avoid an embarrassing early exit, less than two years on from being crowned European champions. Elsewhere, Barcelona missed the chance to finish top after being held by Atalanta, and record 15-time winners Real Madrid were only able to finish 11th.AC Milan were reduced to 10 men as their hopes of a place in the top eight were dashed by a Dinamo Zagreb side fighting, but ultimately failing, to reach the play-offs. "This new format, people are split. It is brilliant, isn't it? We have gone down to the wire," said former Celtic and Blackburn forward Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live.Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart, added:  "It was their [Uefa's] dream on Wednesday night. Everything on the line, someone like Manchester City were on the edge of being eliminated."For them to be potentially going out of the competition brings that interest for the next round, the play-off."By creating a format where teams played eight different opponents in a league stage that culminated with 64 goals in the final 18 matches, Uefa decision-makers will perhaps feel they succeeded in removing feelings of the early stages being repetitive at times.And speaking on TNT Sports, former Scotland and Rangers striker Ally McCoist, added: "It was a little bit chaotic at times because there were goals going in everywhere."I don't think I would be able to watch just the one game in my house, on my sofa, ever again. It was sensational."
Or was it a drawn-out affair?
To counter that argument, the old group stage offered home and away matches against three opponents, with the rivalry that could deliver.Uefa's hopes of ensuring every game counted in this format has largely been met, but its stated aim of a loss or win in the final match making the difference between reaching the last 16 or being eliminated did not come to fruition.Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava were resigned to their fate for some time prior to Wednesday, having lost their first seven games.Bologna, Sparta Prague, Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz and Salzburg also found themselves without anything to play for and, unlike in previous years, there is no consolation prize of Europa League football for anyone leaving the Champions League.By the time the league phase ended 144 matches had taken place as opposed to the 96 played 12 months ago.And despite the inclusion of four extra sides and 48 more fixtures, just 12 clubs have actually dropped out.With another 16 games in a play-off knockout round to follow, some argue it feels like a long and drawn out process to get to the business end of the competition."No matter what happened, you are still going to have the big hitters later on in the competition," added former Liverpool and Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock on BBC Radio 5 Live.Former England midfielder Izzy Christiansen added: "I'm not sold on this new format yet. I need a season to get my head around it, to feel it out and make my judgement. "There are pros and cons. I am a sucker for the old format I watched growing up, the groups of four, the home and away games, going into the round of 16, quarter-finals and so on."In the event of a team competing in the play-offs going on to win the Champions League, they will have played 17 main-draw games in total, up four from last season.
Glamour games deliver
In a repeat of the 2023 final, City hosted Inter Milan in the opening round of fixtures in September, while AC Milan welcomed Liverpool.Real Madrid, Juventus, Barca, Bayern, Borussia Dortmund, Paris St-Germain, Arsenal and Villa were also involved in plenty of glamourous matches.And it is difficult to remember many, aside from City against Inter, that did not deliver drama, a bucket load of goals, or both.While Real thrashed Dortmund 5-2 in a repeat of their meeting at Wembley last June, they also lost 2-0 and 3-1 to Liverpool and Milan respectively.Barca came out the right side of nine-goal and five-goal thrillers against Benfica and Dortmund, while also defeating Bayern 4-1, and 13 goals were scored in City's defeats by Sporting, Juventus and PSG.With more games overall, there are also more opportunities for individuals to make their mark.Stars like Erling Haaland (47 goals in his Champions League career) and Kylian Mbappe (51 goals), will aim to close in on milestones set over a long period by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo - the competition's all-time leading scorer with 141 goals - and Lionel Messi (129 goals).
Variety and competitive balance? 
The new system was also meant to offer a greater competitive balance between all the teams, with the possibility for each to play opponents of a similar level throughout the league phase.But that in itself presented several contradictions, as did the seedings.Villa's victory over Bayern came at a time when they were just four points off the top of the Premier League. It presented the case that some pot-four sides were perhaps just as strong as clubs two gradings above them.Yet others like pot three's Young Boys, who are perennial strugglers in the competition and toiling domestically in Switzerland this season, could make a compelling argument that their fixture list offered far sterner tests than others faced. Inter Milan, Barcelona and Atalanta were among their opposition.Past editions of the tournament would also have provided Dinamo Zagreb, for example, with the opportunity to avenge their 9-2 humbling at Bayern Munich on home soil.There is also something odd about a league in which the number of points scored is used to rank sides despite clubs only encountering 20% of their potential opponents.
Fans and players hit with congested fixture list
Adding two fixtures per club to this stage of the competition delivers more revenue for Uefa and participating teams.However, it also means fitting more games in an already-congested schedule and an increase in the carbon footprint involved in getting to them.Fans also face extra travel costs, when ticket price increases are also a hot topic across the game, with Villa defending their pricing after a backlash from supporters earlier in the campaign.The expansion of the Champions League has also arrived during a period in which a 32-team Club World Cup competition has been bolted on to the calendar this summer.Global players union Fifpro, which is part of a legal action against world governing body Fifa, has published a report raising its concerns around player welfare, while a number of stars, like Spain and Manchester City midfielder Rodri, have said players are close to striking over excessive demands being placed on them.Former Arsenal and France forward Thierry Henry and ex-Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher have expressed the view, external that modern-day players are being "being treated like cattle" and "run into the ground".
Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.