We are witnessing the most dramatic change in European football in the last decades. The best football on the Old Continent is still developing, and we have to ensure that any evolution leaves no questions for the fans. In this article, we will see what’s changing, what’s staying the same, and what to expect from this new era of European club football.
UEFA was and always will be the main character in European football. The Nyon-based organisation has been innovating football since the mid-20th century and has no plans to stop soon.
The European Cup was first introduced in 1955 as a reaction to the popularity gained by friendly matches between the big European teams. The rest of the history is too well known, and therefore, we won’t spend much time on this matter.
The Real Madrid hegemony, the glorious years where the group stage was still a dream, and the exclusive presence of domestic champions represent the beginning of the finest inter-club competition in the history of football.
In 1992, the European Cup became the Champions League, and the Group Stage was introduced for the first time. Starting in 1992, this competition takes the form we all know and love today.
Other competitions, such as the Cup Winners’ Cup, the UEFA Cup, and the Supercup, have also represented important milestones in the foundation of European football.
Today, the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Conference League are the big three tournaments that bring together the European football elite each season.
The current format of European competitions can make even the most passionate fans question some aspects, especially given the lack of concise information and answers from the officials.
Starting with the 2024/2025 season, the UEFA competitions are dropping the Group Stage and introducing what we call in the sporting world the `Swiss Stage`, or just the League Phase.
Therefore, we are witnessing the following changes, which we will be comparing with the previous format for a better perspective:
Now | Before |
32 teams were divided into groups of four, one from each pot. Every team was playing home and away against three teams, resulting in a total of six matches; | 36 teams start the League Phase, which looks at first glance like a usual domestic championship table. However, each participant plays against only eight teams in a single tie. Therefore, we have four home matches and four away matches against two teams from each pot. These matches are decided by a draw, which is determined by a computer. The only exception is UECL, where each team has six opponents, one from each pot. |
After the Group Stage, the first two teams from each group qualified for the Round of 32, with the third team demoted to either UEL or UECL. Next, we had a classic tournament until the end of the competition: Round of 16, Quarters, Semifinals (in double ties), and a single-tie Final. | After the League Phase, teams finishing 1-8 go directly into the Round of 16, while the teams finishing 9-24 advance to a Knockout Playoff. The teams finishing 25-36 are eliminated completely from European football in the current season, considering that the previous demotion system does not work anymore. |
The total number of matches was 125; | The total number of matches is 189. |
All the pots in UEFA Competitions are determined by coefficient. This coefficient is determined by the performance of all teams from that respective country over the course of the last five seasons.
However, before the League Phase even starts, we have the qualifying system for the weaker domestic leagues on the continent. For the UCL, teams are divided into `Champions Path` and `League Path`. This system revolves around getting two teams that are similar in strength to battle for a place in the League Phase. The qualifiers begin with the first round, second round, third round, and playoffs. All of the matches are played in double ties.
For UEL and UECL, the system remains the same, but with the exception that the `Champions Path` teams can only be teams demoted from the UCL qualifiers.
We discussed earlier that UEFA is eager to continue innovating and changing football. However, these are not the only reasons why a change like this happened in European football. There are, naturally, some practical reasons as well behind this decision.
However, in order to give you a perspective where there is a balance between the official reasons and the ones some fans bring, we will note down both sides of the story.
The major reasons UEFA came with are the following:
New opportunities for the weaker teams: In the past, the Group Stage could become a true Death Group for some smaller teams, which were destined to lose any single match with little to no effort. Therefore, with the help of a more equilibrated draw, where you will always have an opponent from the same pot, you can relatively still fight for points in matches with similar-strength opponents.
The fans will see more matches: As we mentioned earlier, the number of matches has risen considerably, and the opportunities for a Champions League night are surely better for viewers.
The number of high-profile matches will increase: Just like the smaller teams, the European giants will have a team from the same pot to play against. Therefore, fans won’t have to wait for the knockout stages in order to see a high-profile match.
On the other hand, some fans have suspicions when it comes to the unofficial reasons, which can be just as important for UEFA:
Answer to the European SuperLeague: The chaos created by some European teams after revealing their plans regarding a European SuperLeague has encountered some heavy criticism from Nyon. Therefore, many fans think that the Swiss Stage format implemented by UEFA might be a direct response that will make an eventual SuperLeague forgotten;
More matches = More revenue: With the risk of creating inflation in football and overwhelming the players (who have also threatened to strike), UEFA increased the number of matches by a considerable margin. Although the number of matches might look good for fans, it will also bring some new revenue from publicity, marketing, and TV rights
There are many changes to European football that we can all observe. However, the financial structure has also undergone some modifications with this new format. Just like the previous seasons, UCL remains the king when it comes to money, while the other two competitions have a significantly weaker prize pool.
Therefore, let’s take a look at all the financial data of the UEFA competitions in the 2024/2025 season:
The top-tier European competition still leads the way in the financial department by a margin. The total prize pot went from 2,03 billion in 2023/2024 to 2,437 billion in 2024/2025. The pool is divided as follows:
Participation Prize (25%) - A quarter of the total prize goes to the 36 teams that qualified for the League Phase;
Performance-Based Payments (30%) - The sporting criteria remain detrimental to UEFA, which pays a big percentage of the total prize for the teams that go deeper in the tournament. As a matter of fact, the sum has increased by 33% compared with the last season. (from 513 million pounds to 771 million pounds)
TV Rights (15%) - In the era of modern television, the TV rights remain a major factor in any football competition;
Coefficient Ranking Payments (30%) - A big change that UEFA implemented in this season is represented by a system which awards more money to the teams coming from more powerful domestic leagues.
In conclusion, the financial department of Europe’s main competition is quite impressive and reflects the level of discipline and performance a team has to achieve in order to take part in such a tournament.
These are the payments a team that qualifies for the UCL receives:
18,62 million for the League Phase qualification;
2,1 million for each victory;
700,000 for each draw
Therefore, an eventual UCL winner might cash in anywhere in the range of 80-100 million euros, depending on the number of wins achieved in the process.
The second European competition saw a significant decrease in the prize pool compared with the UCL. However, the total amount is not negligible: 465 million euros. This is what a qualified team can achieve financially in the Europa League:
3.63 million euros for the League Phase;
630,000 for each victory;
210,00 for each draw.
Although the total amount has not been increased for this season, Europa League remains a very interesting competition, with a gradual increase in quality over the last seasons.
The third competition is another one that doesn’t get the UCL treatment for this season. The total prize pool is the same as for the last season, going up to 235 million euros.
This is what a Conference League can achieve during this season:
1,8 million for the League Phase;
500,000 for each victory;
166,000 for each draw;
In conclusion, the prize pool will affect more than ever the clubs that participate in European competitions. Therefore, the risk of creating a very big discrepancy between UCL and is competitors is higher than ever.
However, a team can achieve more financial advantages than ever with performance on the pitch, and this is a good aspect for weaker teams that can have some good unexpected showings in the League Phase. This will help these teams tremendously, especially in aspects such as infrastructure, transfers, wages, etc.
The fact that there will be nostalgic fans who will not be accepting these changes lightly is undeniable. However, change is natural in football and can surely bring some positive aspects to our beloved game.
Moreover, for a bigger image, we will take a look at the main ideas for both sides of the coin:
Increased number of high-profile matches;
Higher potential financially for teams which perform better;
Variety and fair matches for weaker teams.
Too many matches can bring oversaturation and overwhelm the players;
Negative impact on the domestic leagues;
Financial discrepancies between the competitions.
Football has always been the sport in which arguments and disputes flow, and any change to the king sport will bring at least two different points of view from fans. Although most of us have not seen other disbanded competitions or abolished formats, we can surely agree that time was the main factor that resolved the issues.
Therefore, we believe that it is not the format that is the main problem fans have with the new UEFA competitions, but the fact that we have had a sudden change to the European football we all knew and loved.
However, we believe that only time will tell if this change is for the greater good of the sport and if the evolution trend every couple of decades will continue to produce positive results.
