The Champions League is entering its second season following major reforms. However, UEFA has changed one detail in the knockout phase—partly because two clubs had complained.
36 teams instead of 32, a league phase instead of a group phase, eight different preliminary round opponents instead of three, and a knockout phase with a fixed tournament tree: since last season, the Champions League has been presented in a completely new format. And in the new season, which kicks off on Tuesday evening in Eindhoven and Bilbao, UEFA is sticking with the reformed format – with one exception.
In the knockout phase, the European Football Association has made an adjustment based on the experience of the inaugural season. The issue at stake is which team will be allowed to play the second leg at home in the quarterfinals and semifinals. In 2024/25, this was still part of the draw, but in future, the best teams in the league phase will receive this advantage.
Specifically, the teams ranked 1st to 4th after the league phase will play the quarterfinal second leg at home, and those ranked 1st and 2nd will also play the semifinal second leg at home. If one of the teams concerned is eliminated in an earlier round, this right will pass to the winning team.
Last season, Paris Saint-Germain, who went on to win the Champions League, finished the league phase in 15th place and only qualified for the round of 16 via the knockout play-offs, where they surprised first-placed Liverpool FC (0-1/4-1 on penalties). Under the new format, PSG would have secured home advantage for the quarterfinal and semifinal second legs.
UEFA also responded to Barca’s matches against BVB and PSG
FC Barcelona and Arsenal FC in particular had disagreed with the home advantage rule for 2024/25. Barca, who finished second behind Liverpool in the league phase, had to play both the quarterfinal (4:0/1:3 against Borussia Dortmund) and semifinal (3:3/3:4 a.e.t. against Inter Milan) second legs away, even though they had finished ahead of their rivals in the league phase. The Gunners had a similar experience in the semifinals against PSG (0-1/1-2), although, as mentioned above, they would find themselves in the same situation again under the new format because PSG would have won the home advantage for the second leg with their victory over Liverpool.
One of the advantages of playing the second leg at home is that the home team is allowed to play 30 minutes longer than their opponents in extra time. That is why there are repeated calls for a penalty shootout to determine the winner in the event of a tie.
