Introduction the new champions league is here and the draws have been made prepare for a paradigm shift in the prestigious UEFA Champions League from groups to a grand Galaxy of games this colossal chains charts a course for more clubs countless clashes and captivating competition 36 teams tangle in a Titanic tussle where every match matters and miracles multiply and money definitely is not a motivator buckle up for old Bick years boldest transformation yet let's talk Champions League New Format about the new UEFA Champions League format if you're like me you saw the draw today and you were thinking what is this this is weird where are the groups I want groups but there are no more groups instead there are leagues and this is now not the group phase it is the league phase and so I'm going to unpack this brand new format in the UEFA Champions League and we will look at what this means for each team involved so let's jump in there's seven big changes that we need to go over now the first one is like I just said there is now a league phase instead of a group phase um this includes 36 teams so instead of 32 divided by eight that means four um so there were eight groups before now there are leagues it's just one big league and there are 36 teams in this league so think of it as like the the uh well it's the Champions League so I guess it makes sense but think of it as a big uh Premier League you know premier league has 20 teams this is now a big league with 36 teams um there is a single League format instead of eight groups each team plays eight matches against different opponents so each team is going to play eight different teams you don't play two teams or you don't play four teams twice you play eight different teams which in my opinion it's kind of cool it's kind of a cool little change we'll get to see more teams uh play each other more teams uh coming to different stadiums that uh probably never would have happened before or it just would take a lot Seeding Pots & Qualifications longer so uh as we already know there were four seating pots to determine opponents now how do teams make it through qualification this is the second change the top eight teams after those eight League games have been played by each team the top eight teams Advance directly to round of 16 so they kind of get this Buy week if you will or a bu round where they don't have to play until the round of 16 that is going to be a coveted position uh because then you will need less games uh less taxing on your teams the teams finishing 9th through 24th enter playoffs and the bottom eight teams uh teams 25th and below are eliminated uh actually I think that's the what is that the bottom 12 is it I think it's the the bottom 12 teams are eliminated I thought it went by eight I was wrong um now on to The Knockout phase playoffs 9th through 16th uh teams are seated versus 17th through 24th the winners of each one of those How do teams get into the UCL? matches will join the top eight in the round of 16 um existing format now will continue to the final so uh after that you basically um it's the same so the round of 16 on it's the same format as before um how do you get into the Champions League so uh there is one spot for third place team from fifth ranked associations one for domestic Champions two for associations with best Collective performance now this is where um it's going to probably shift year to year uh you know for example you know the the English Premier League they might not have four slots every year um so that's going to shift and it's going to be interesting we might be you know might be rooting for other English teams if you're you know an English Premier League fan uh if you're an English fan uh you might be rooting for those teams to perform well I am a Liverpool fan and uh this is a Liverpool channel uh and so you know hey if we're sitting in fourth place you know hopefully not we're hopefully a little higher uh we might be sweating a little bit if uh you know the the English Premier League is set to lose uh one of those places so um calendar matches start here in late mid to late September all the way through January uh there's going to be midweek games Tuesday through Wednesday some on Thursday and then the final will of course be on a Saturday um here are the proposed benefits uh there's more teams so there's four more teams involved now uh there's increased competitive balance okay um every match counts kind of even though I think there's probably going to be some teams that automatically qualify for that uh you know that buy into the round of 16 probably a little earlier on um and then more high stakes games I I really don't get that um you know I I think this is you know probably just a money play um you know there's just more games um so um so anyways that is that is the uh the shift in format now I'm going to look really real quick at the draw results Champions League Draw Results from uh the draw uh yesterday and we can see all of the teams involved now have the teams that they will be playing against four home and four away uh and you can you know find your favorite team in the Champions League and see exactly who they're going to be playing uh like I said this is a Liverpool channel so we will zoom in on the Liverpool schedule Liverpool's UCL Schedule here schedule uh Real Madrid at home leig lusen Milan Lee uh PSV bolog balone as we say here uh and then gona Jona Yona I don't know um not a bad draw not a bad draw I think the first four games will be our tougher games uh Real Madrid at anfield is going to be crazy crazy crazy crazy and lusin at home is going to be crazy those are going to be two very very high-profile games uh very challenging games I think and AC Milan too will be a tough tough test tough test um so uh what would it take for Liverpool to let's just take let's just take liver whether you're a Liverpool fan or not let's just take Liverpool as an example what would it take Liverpool to get out of the league phase uh into the round of 16 so let's say Liverpool struggle early on but they squeak in uh to the playoffs well they would squeak in let's say they're you know the 14th uh ranked team they would go up against uh let me see if I can do my math right they would go up against the 19th ranked team um and they would have to play kind of a single elimination um I think it's a single elimination maybe maybe it's a a two game series I'm not sure I think it's just sing single uh and then they would jump into the round of 16 if they win that now let's say Liverpool succeed uh and let's say they win six out of their eight games maybe they lose one and draw one um that will likely get them into that top eight and they will advance directly to round of 16 now from there on out it's just round of 16 then it's going to be the uh the round of eight then it would be the semifinals and then the final um just like we we've seen in the past so um you know the stage is set the stage is set they'll get to see Real Madrid uh who I'm guessing will be the favorites in this tournament with mbappe and all of their other Firepower they'll get to see them early on which I think will be advantageous if we need to go up against them uh later on in the tournament um and Leverkusen as well might be another team that we might see later on in the tournament so I think it's advantageous that Liverpool gets to see two of those very strong teams uh both at home which I think is good um hopefully is good anfield gives us that extra boost against two of the best teams in our schedule um but I you know I it remains to be seen but I kind of like this new format I didn't dislike the group stages in the old way of doing things but I do kind of like this that we get to see eight different teams um in our you know our Champions League uh Journey as it were I don't love that there's you know two or three extra games in the schedule uh I think we already had too many games last year and previously uh as a team that competes in uh you know top top tournaments and we tend to stay into the FA Cup and the caribel cup and Europe cups for an extended amount of time and it just adds up quite a bit as we know from kops to quad Journeys uh that ultimately did not end up in quads but uh were fantastic Journeys nonetheless so um I will leave it at that what do you think of the new Champions League format what do you think of the league phase will you miss the group phase let me know in the comments below and uh hopefully hopefully as they say this will create a more colossal uh Clash more captivating competition Titanic tussles where match matters every match matters and miracles multiply yeah of course