Not everyone is fully on board with the revamped Champions League, which will get underway during the 2024/25 campaign.

The expanded format will see 83 teams enter the competition, with those performing best in the early rounds making it through to the 36-team league table, which replaces the traditional 32-team group phase.

The top divisions in Europe will have a chance to earn an extra place in the Champions League; however, the Premier League’s chances took a huge hit with the early exits of Manchester United and Newcastle from the 2023/24 edition.

Coefficient Conundrum

The EPL will, as normal, have four ringfenced berths in the 2024/25 Champions League.

They could have had a fifth automatically had a domestic team won the competition in 2023 that didn’t finish in the Premier League top four – that of course is unlikely to happen now, with Manchester City (23/10) and Arsenal (6/1) tipped to do well in the UCL online football betting odds but also expected to finish in the EPL top four too.

The football tips are more positive about the chances of Liverpool, Brighton and West Ham in the Europa League – the winner of that UEFA tournament, of course, gains automatic entry into next season’s Champions League if they don’t qualify via their EPL placing. Of the trio, only Liverpool seem likely to do that.

Goal for Bayern, scored by Coman.#MUFC || #UCL

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 12, 2023

So English football WILL have five Champions League spots in 2024/25 if Brighton or West Ham win the Europa League. If they don’t, clubs in the Premier League will be reliant on the coefficient remaining strong enough to be offered one of two extra passes into the UCL.

And here’s the rub. England is down to third in the coefficient rankings based upon the continental performances of its representative clubs, with the German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A instead leading the way.

So, unless the English teams remaining in continental competition outperform their counterparts from Germany and Italy in particular, the side finishing fifth in the Premier League will not qualify for the Champions League in 2024/25.

Bigger… Better?

It’s amazing that despite the moans of elite players that they are forced to play too many games each season and risk injury, UEFA have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear in the pursuit of profit.

As of 2024/25, every team that reaches the league phase of the Champions League will play eight games instead of four – putting more pressure on the players to perform to their highest standard for 360 more minutes, while securing UEFA a sweeter deal when it comes to selling the competition’s media rights.

ℹ️ The 2024/25 edition of the UEFA Champions League will follow a new format.

Everything you need to know about the changes ⬇️#UCL

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 20, 2021

The so-called Swiss system will see each team in the Champions League play eight randomly selected opponents – four at home, four away. The best-performing eight clubs here will be spirited straight into the Round of 16, while those finishing ninth to 24th will then contest a play-in tournament not dissimilar to those used in the NBA and NFL.

Confused? You should be. The expanded Champions League makes no sense to anybody… apart from UEFA, that is.

For more of the same, watch Eric Cantona’s bizarre speech recently. Really is something else that guy.