How the Champions League Works: The League Phase Format Explained

Since 2024–25 the UEFA Champions League has used a “league phase”: one 36-team table in which every club plays eight different opponents, followed by knockout rounds that lead to a single final. The new format replaced the familiar eight groups of four and confused plenty of fans at first. This guide explains how teams qualify, how the league phase draw works, who goes through to the knockouts, how tiebreakers work and what to expect on the road to the 2027 final in Madrid.

What Is the Champions League?

The Champions League is Europe’s top club football competition, organised by UEFA, the governing body of European football. It began in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs’ Cup and was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992. Real Madrid have won it more times than any other club. Paris Saint-Germain are the current holders: according to UEFA, they retained the trophy in May 2026 by beating Arsenal on penalties in Budapest after a 1–1 draw.

How Do Teams Qualify for the Champions League?

Most places go to the top finishers in Europe’s domestic leagues. The number of places each country gets depends on its UEFA coefficient, a ranking based on its clubs’ results in Europe over the previous five seasons. England, Spain, Italy and Germany get four automatic places each, and France three. The rest qualify through preliminary rounds, which are split into a “champions path” for title winners from smaller leagues and a “league path” for other clubs.

The expanded format also added two European Performance Spots: an extra place for each of the two countries whose clubs performed best collectively in Europe the previous season. The holders of the Champions League and Europa League also qualify automatically.

How Does the League Phase Work?

All 36 teams are placed in a single league table. According to UEFA, each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents, four at home and four away. Teams do not play everyone; instead, they are drawn against two opponents from each of four seeding pots:

• Pot 1: the holders and the eight highest-ranked clubs by UEFA club coefficient
• Pots 2 to 4: the remaining clubs, in order of their coefficients
• Each team faces: two opponents from each pot, one at home and one away
• Restrictions: clubs cannot face teams from their own country, and can play no more than two clubs from any other single country

The draw is carried out with the help of software because the restrictions make a manual draw impractical. Teams earn three points for a win and one for a draw. The league phase runs from September to late January, with matches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and, on some matchdays, Thursdays.

Who Goes Through to the Knockout Stage?

• 1st to 8th: qualify directly for the round of 16
• 9th to 24th: enter a two-legged knockout phase play-off, with teams ranked 9th to 16th seeded against teams ranked 17th to 24th
• 25th to 36th: are eliminated, with no route into the Europa League

The play-off winners join the top eight in the round of 16. That makes the final matchday in January unusually dramatic: dozens of teams have something to play for at once, either a top-eight place or a top-24 finish, and all matches kick off at the same time.

How Does the Knockout Stage Work?

The round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals are played over two legs, home and away. Unlike the old format, the bracket is largely shaped by league-phase positions rather than a fully open draw: higher-ranked teams are placed so that, in theory, the top two cannot meet until the final, and the better-ranked team in each tie plays the second leg at home. That rewards consistency across all eight league-phase games. It also means a team that finishes first in the league phase is guaranteed home advantage in the second leg of every knockout tie it plays before the final, a meaningful edge in close two-legged contests.

If the aggregate score is level after two legs, the tie goes to extra time and then penalties. The away goals rule, which used to separate teams on aggregate, was scrapped by UEFA from the 2021–22 season.

Where Is the 2027 Champions League Final?

The 2027 final will be played at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid, home of Atlético de Madrid, on 5 June 2027, according to UEFA. The final is a single match at a pre-selected neutral venue. If it is drawn after 90 minutes, extra time and penalties follow, as in Budapest in 2026.

How Are Ties in the League Table Broken?

If teams finish level on points in the league phase, UEFA uses a sequence of tiebreakers. The first are goal difference, then goals scored, then away goals scored, followed by wins, away wins and the combined strength of the opponents each team faced. Because each club plays a different set of opponents, head-to-head results are not used as they were in the old groups.

Why Did UEFA Change the Format?

UEFA said the new system would mean more competitive matches between top clubs earlier in the season and fewer “dead rubbers”, the meaningless final group games of the old format. It also increased the number of teams from 32 to 36 and the minimum number of league-phase games from six to eight, which raised broadcast revenue and prize money. Critics, including player unions, argue the extra matches add to an already crowded calendar for leading players.

How Much Prize Money Is at Stake?

UEFA distributes prize money for participation, for each win and draw in the league phase, for final league position and for each knockout round reached, as well as payments linked to broadcasting value and a club’s historical performance. Each league-phase win is worth a substantial bonus, and the winners of the competition can earn well over €100 million in total from UEFA payments. Exact sums are published by UEFA for each season.

How Can You Watch the Champions League in North America?

In the US, Paramount+ and CBS hold English-language rights to UEFA club competitions; in Canada, DAZN holds the rights. Rights deals change, so check listings before match night. Many fans in the Americas also follow stories such as our reports on PSG beating Barcelona and Como v Manchester United.

Key Takeaways

The Champions League now starts with a single 36-team league in which each club plays eight different opponents. The top eight go straight to the round of 16, teams finishing 9th to 24th play a two-legged play-off, and the bottom 12 go out. Two-legged knockout rounds follow, with seeding rewarding league-phase position, leading to the final at the Metropolitano in Madrid on 5 June 2027. For more on how big competitions are structured, see our guides to the NBA season and the MLB postseason.

Featured image: 2010 Champions League Final opening ceremony, by Johnny Vulkan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Cropped, colour-graded and combined with MediaPavilion branding.

Sources

• UEFA — 2027 UEFA Champions League final: Estadio Metropolitano (accessed 28 October 2026).
• UEFA — Paris retain Champions League: holders edge Arsenal on penalties (May 2026).
• UEFA — Champions League format explained: how the league phase works (accessed 28 October 2026).
• UEFA — Champions League league phase standings: how teams level on points are separated (accessed 28 October 2026).