The Champions League is undergoing changes, and from next season onwards a new format will begin and we will explain everything to you, as the changes are not just for the UCL. The Europa League and Conference League are also part of these changes.
How will the Champions League Draw work?
We will have a new format from next season (Europa League and Conference League too). The traditional group stage will end and there will be a single league, with 36 teams and eight matches (four at home and four away). And it doesn’t stop there, competition directors promise more unprecedented changes.
UEFA’s deputy general secretary and director of football, Giorgio Marchetti, revealed, in a more reserved press conference, with some media, that a computer will be the one to determine the opponents that each team will face. The software is being developed by an English company and will, once completed, be subject to an audit by the Ernst & Young.
According to UEFA, a manual draw, the famous pot draw, with the balls, would take between three and four hours to complete, thus requiring more than 900 balls, and to generate pairings and avoid games between clubs of the same country. This way, and using a computer, the draw will last around 35 minutes.
