AP

8 rounds in expanded Champions League first stage from 2024

May 9, 2022, 5:44 PM | Updated: May 10, 2022, 11:14 am

Liverpool's players celebrate after the Champions League semi final, second leg soccer match betwee...

Liverpool's players celebrate after the Champions League semi final, second leg soccer match between Villarreal and Liverpool at the Ceramica stadium in Villarreal, Spain, Tuesday, May 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

(AP Photo/Jose Breton)

VIENNA (AP) — A scaled-back first phase to the expanded Champions League in 2024 was approved by UEFA on Tuesday to quell a backlash around Europe.

The reformatted group stage has been reduced from 10 rounds to eight, and backup places for teams based on historical performance have been replaced with a qualification method that rewards the most successful nations more recently in European football.

The stage will still grow from 32 to 36 teams based around a single standings rather than eight groups.

Weeks of talks involving domestic leagues and clubs went down to the wire on Tuesday to produce the revised format that will see two additional places in the expanded format awarded to the two countries with the highest UEFA ranking based on their teams’ results in European competitions the previous season.

If the system was already in place, it would mean the fifth-place team in England would qualify for the Champions League along with a second automatic place for the Netherlands. The team finishing third in the Dutch league would get a chance to enter the qualifying rounds.

The original plan that sparked criticism, particularly among middle-class clubs and fans, would have awarded the two places to teams with the strongest five-season record in Europe who failed to qualify through their domestic leagues.

The distribution of the other two expansion places will see an additional team qualify from the fifth-ranked country in Europe — regularly France — and a fifth slot for domestic champions who don’t qualify automatically.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said the revisions agreed to at an executive committee meeting in Vienna ensure qualification is based on sporting performance.

An initial radical plan presented by UEFA in 2019 featured 24 of the 32 slots in the Champions League locked in without the need to qualify annually — a largely closed competition that Super League rebel clubs tried to then introduce with a failed breakaway last year.

The new format, that was tweaked on Tuesday, was initially ratified by UEFA in the turbulent days around the Super League launch in April 2021.

“We are convinced that the format chosen strikes the right balance,” Ceferin said, “and that it will improve the competitive balance and generate solid revenues that can be distributed to clubs, leagues and into grassroots football across our continent while increasing the appeal and popularity of our club competitions.”

The first main stage to the new-look Champions League features teams playing eight different opponents, with the top eight qualifying automatically for the round of 16. But finishing up to 24th out of the 36 teams will secure entry into the 16-team playoff round.

The distribution of additional places means, based on the current status of England it could theoretically have seven teams in the Champions League. That would require English teams to win the Champions League and Europa League while not finishing in the top five in the Premier League.

There will be 10 weeks set aside for European games in the early league phase from 2024, but only eight will be used for the three UEFA competitions. They will each gain a week of exclusivity to particularly help the Europa League and Europa Conference League garner more of the spotlight as they also expand to 36 teams based around a single standings.

The current 32-team Champions League produces 96 games in the group stage. Dropping from 10 to eight games per team will make an extra 64 games rather than 100 before the round of 16. That would have an impact on UEFA’s predictions of revenue rising about 40% from the current 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) annually from its club competitions.

The Champions League was created in 1992 from the European Cup, which started in 1955 and was a knockout tournament for most of its existence.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Associated Press

Ex-Packer Guion gets 1 year for domestic violence assault

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading no contest in a domestic violence assault at his home last fall. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh also ordered Guion on Tuesday to serve three years’ probation and complete a domestic […]

1 year ago

Joe Jarzynka...

Associated Press

Durant eager for Suns debut vs. Hornets after knee injury

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant has been through quite a bit during his 15-year NBA career — but joining a new team midway through the season is a new one for the 13-time All-Star. The 34-year-old Durant doesn’t seem all that worried. Durant makes his highly anticipated Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday night against […]

1 year ago

FILE - Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stands on the sideline during the second half of an N...

Associated Press

Judge: NFL coach can press discrimination claims in court

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Coach Brian Flores can pursue some of his discrimination claims against the league and its teams in court rather than through arbitration, a judge ruled Wednesday. The written decision by Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan was issued months after lawyers for the league tried to get the lawsuit moved to […]

1 year ago

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock cools off in the first period during an NHL hockey game ...

Associated Press

Kane trade reinforces hard reality of Blackhawks rebuild

CHICAGO (AP) — After days of speculation, the harsh reality of the Chicago Blackhawks’ situation was reinforced by one move in a flurry of transactions ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Showtime is over, at least in Chicago, and a seemingly bright future is, well, way off in the distance. The reverberations of Chicago’s decision […]

1 year ago

FILE -  Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, wearing a protective face mas...

Associated Press

Disgraced ex-Haitian soccer president announces he’s back

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month announced Wednesday that he is reclaiming his position. Yves Jean-Bart’s defiant announcement could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an emergency management committee to lead the Haitian Football Association […]

1 year ago

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers walks off the field after an NFL football game against the ...

Associated Press

Rodgers says decision on future will come ‘soon enough’

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 39, discussed his future while speaking on an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that […]

1 year ago

8 rounds in expanded Champions League first stage from 2024