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    Champions League’s new format is delivering excitement

    Champions League’s new format is delivering excitement
    01/24/2025 7664

    The new Champions League format is providing fans with everything it was promised. The tournament will go into the eighth matchday of the league phase with some of the world’s biggest clubs potentially failing to qualify for the next stage.

    Teams including Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Benfica could all be eliminated from the tournament on the final day of the league phase. Meanwhile, clubs such as Brest, Celtic, and Feyenoord are assured of at least playing in the last-16 playoffs.

    The shake up of the Champions League format was criticised by many fans and pundits before the tournament’s league phase kicked off in September. Yet, with seven matchdays gone and some exciting football played, the critics have grown quiet.

    The new format, known as the Swiss Model, has led to some of the world’s biggest teams meeting in the league phase. For example, Liverpool have already played against Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and AC Milan.

    In the old format of the tournament, the biggest clubs rarely met until the knockout phase. Too often, clubs like Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, or Barcelona would claim progress to the last 16 with games to spare.

    This season, two of those three football superpowers have struggled. Playing stronger teams from the start, Manchester City have been especially poor.

    The Cityzens are 25th in the Champions League standings. Anything short of a win against Club Brugge on matchday No. 8 and Man City will likely be eliminated from the Champions League.

    Paris Saint-Germain could also be eliminated. Although their win over Manchester City on matchday No. 7 will have helped their pursuit of progression. That progression will only be into the last-16 playoffs.

    A quick look at the Champions League standings shows that 11 points could be enough to qualify for the last-16 playoffs. But how many points are needed to qualify directly for the last 16 and avoid the playoffs?

    Fourteen points may be enough to make the top eight. The great thing about the final day of the Champions League is the battle to get into the top eight and the top 24. How many times did we have dead rubbers on matchday 5 and 6 of the old Champions League?

    In the last 16, teams will be seeded, with the teams that qualified directly being the higher seeds. Yet, with the way the tournament has gone so far, the higher seeds won’t be guaranteed winning their tie.

    So far, the Champions League’s Swiss Model has delivered. Now, with one last league phase matchday, the tournament will likely throw up more surprises.

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    Featured match

    ECL
    2

    League Stage

    OVERALL TABLE
    OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
    1
    		 PSG 6 2 2 0 0 7
    2
    		 Aston Villa 6 2 2 0 0 7
    3
    		 Barcelona 6 2 2 0 0 7
    4
    		 Stuttgart 6 2 2 0 0 5
    5
    		 Liverpool 6 2 2 0 0 4
    6
    		 Sporting CP 6 2 2 0 0 4
    7
    		 Arsenal 6 2 2 0 0 4
    8
    		 Real Madrid 6 2 2 0 0 2
    9
    		 Real Betis 6 2 2 0 0 2
    10
    		 Bayern Munich 4 2 1 1 0 5
    11
    		 Shakhtar Donetsk 4 2 1 1 0 2
    12
    		 Calcio Como 3 2 1 0 1 2
    13
    		 Manchester United 3 2 1 0 1 2
    14
    		 Villarreal 3 2 1 0 1 1
    15
    		 Atlético Madrid 3 2 1 0 1 1
    16
    		 Club Brugge 3 2 1 0 1 0
    17
    		 Manchester City 3 2 1 0 1 0
    18
    		 Borussia Dortmund 3 2 1 0 1 0
    19
    		 Lens 3 2 1 0 1 -1
    20
    		 AEK 3 2 1 0 1 -1
    21
    		 RB Leipzig 3 2 1 0 1 -2
    22
    		 Sabah 3 2 1 0 1 -2
    23
    		 Feyenoord 3 2 1 0 1 -3
    24
    		 Bodo/Glimt 3 2 1 0 1 -4
    25
    		 Roma 1 2 0 1 1 -1
    26
    		 PSV Eindhoven 1 2 0 1 1 -1
    27
    		 Viking FK 1 2 0 1 1 -2
    28
    		 Fenerbahçe 1 2 0 1 1 -6
    29
    		 Inter 0 2 0 0 2 -2
    30
    		 Porto 0 2 0 0 2 -3
    31
    		 Slavia Praha 0 2 0 0 2 -3
    32
    		 Napoli 0 2 0 0 2 -3
    33
    		 LASK Linz 0 2 0 0 2 -4
    34
    		 Lille 0 2 0 0 2 -4
    35
    		 Galatasaray 0 2 0 0 2 -5
    36
    		 Slovan Bratislava 0 2 0 0 2 -8
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