A third place finish in the 2023/24 Serie A season sees Juventus return to Europe’s top continental competition, the UEFA Champions, after a year of absence, not due to our results on the pitch.
NEW CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FORMAT
How does the new Champions League work? As the UEFA website reports:
The main change in the reforms announced by the UEFA Executive Committee is the abandonment of the current group stage system. The current Champions League group stage has 32 participants divided into eight groups of four. From the 2024/25 season, however, 36 clubs will participate in the Champions League's championship phase (former group stage), giving four more teams the opportunity to play against Europe's top clubs. These 36 clubs will participate in a single league in which the league table will include all 36 teams.
According to the new format, teams will play eight matches in this new single-round phase (former group stage). They will no longer play twice against three opponents - home and away - but will face eight different teams, playing half of the matches at home and half away. To determine the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be classified into four brackets. Each team will then be drawn to play against two opponents per bracket, playing one home and one away game against the two teams in that bracket.
The results of each match will decide the overall classification of the new league, with three points for a win and one for a draw.
The top eight teams from the league phase will automatically qualify for the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th will compete in knockout play-offs with return matches to fill the grid for the Round of 16. Teams ranked 25th and lower will be eliminated with no chance of entering the UEFA Europa League.
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
This is the list of the 29 confirmed teams for next season’s competition, with the remaining seven to be decided after various qualifiers, to be held between July and August.
Italy: Inter Milan, Juventus, Atalanta, Milan, Bologna
Germany: Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund
Spain: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, Atlético Madrid
England: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa
France: PSG, Monaco, Brest
Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord
Portugal: Sporting, Benfica
Belgium: Bruges
Scotland: Celtic
Ukraine: Shakhtar Donetsk
Austria: Sturm Graz