the draws for the first Champions League new format are in and this is a brief explanation of how the format Works UEFA has replace the group stages with a league format 36 teams will compete in the Champions League and all teams are placed in pots 1 2 three and four each team will play against two teams from the four pots as determined by an automated system and will play four games at home and four away as they gather points after the eight games for each team teams in positions one to to 8 will automatically qualify for the round of 16 teams from positions 9 to 24 will face off in a playoff to get eight more to join the round of 16 and teams from positions 25 to 36 will be eliminated from the competition