The UEFA Champions League is set to undergo a major change starting from the 2024-25 season. The competition will be expanded to 36 teams, all competing in one league table format. This new format will require a different approach to the draw, as each club will play a total of eight games – four at home and four away.
Automating the Draw Process
With the increased number of teams and games, UEFA has decided to almost completely computerise the Champions League draw. Drawing each club’s opponents manually, as was done in the past, would be a time-consuming process. It would take up to four hours and require up to 900 balls due to the complex considerations within the draw.
Under the new system, there will be four pots of nine teams each, ordered by UEFA’s five-year performance coefficient. Clubs will not be able to draw teams from their own country, except in specific circumstances. The computer will allocate opponents automatically from all four pots and decide which fixtures are home and away.
In cases where there are too many teams from one country in a particular pot, a fixture deadlock may occur. This would only affect countries with four or more clubs in the competition. However, UEFA believes it will be able to avoid such situations in the upcoming seasons.
There will be two limited knockout-round draws – one at the end of the league phase in January and another at the end of February for the round of 16. These draws will decide which side of the bracket teams fall on, based on their positions in the league phase. There will be no draws for the quarterfinals and semifinals, as the matchups will already be set in the bracket.
UEFA has imposed a limit of seven clubs from one association in the Champions League. While it is hypothetically possible for leagues like the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 to have 11 clubs across all European competitions, this would require a league to win all three competitions and those clubs not finish in European places domestically.
The evolution of the UEFA Champions League draw reflects the changing landscape of European football. The move towards automation and computerisation aims to streamline the process and ensure fairness in the allocation of fixtures. As the competition continues to grow and evolve, UEFA remains committed to adapting to meet the needs of clubs and fans alike.
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