The new format of the Champions League has been present for the first time this season, but some changes were driven before the end of the current campaign
The administrative body of the European football UEFA weighs changes in the knock -out structure of the Champions League, so it is claimed. This season is the first to contain a new format of 36 teams, but a few tweaks can be made to enter the 2025-26 campaign.
In the current format, the ranking of a team in the competition phase will determine their sowing for the play-off round. The top eight teams in the rankings get a Bye to the Tour of 16, where they subtract a play-off winner and enjoy the home advantage in the second stage.
However, this season's draw for the later rounds has removed that benefit. Home Advantage is decided by random draw after the round of 16, so teams that performed better in the group stage could be forced to first play the home leg in the quarterfinals or semi-final phase.
Arsenal suffered this season under the system. The Gunners finished third in the competition phase, which means that they received a home advantage for the second stage of their round of 16 meetings with PSV Eindhoven, but they first had to play at home when they met Real Madrid in the quarters.
It was a similar situation for Barcelona, ​​who were on the first stage of their quarterfinals against Borussia Dortmund, despite the second in the competition phase. However, it can change in one of a number of tweaks next season.
According to Bild, the home advantage of the second legs for teams with a higher ranked teams is one of the three potential changes. The German publication reports that criticism of the current format has arrived from Arsenal.
Although he was denied home advantage in the second stage, Arsenal was able to book their place in the last four. At home they won 3-0 for Real Madrid in the first stage of their quarterfinals, before completing a total victory by winning 2-1 in the Bernabeu.
The other changes that are being considered include the removal of extra-time in knockout competitions, sending tires immediately with punishments when the scores are aggregated and keep clubs apart from the same country until the quarterfinals. BILD suggests that the Club Competitions Committee could decide on the changes after a meeting of 30 May, with proposals that are then placed in front of the UEFA executive committee before they can be brought.
The land protection element has become a factor after changes have been made to the previous Champions League format. Under the old system, with eight groups of four teams followed by a knockout phase, teams from the same country were kept apart until the quarterfinals.
However, that changed with the expansion of the competition. Teams from the same domestic competition have gathered in the play-off round and the round of 16 this season.
Paris Saint-Germain, who is confronted with Arsenal in the semi-final, conquered colleague Ligue 1 Side Brest in the play-off before he got better Liverpool and Aston Villa in the next two rounds. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich defeated both domestic rivals in the round of 16, although both were subsequently eliminated in the quarterfinals.