Frank Christian
The 2024/25 season marks significant updates to UEFA’s club tournaments, introducing new league phases for the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League.
The tournaments will now feature an expanded number of teams, and instead of being in smaller groups, all participants will compete in a single league format during the initial stages.
This change alters how teams compete for a place in the knockout rounds, as they must accumulate as many points as possible from their eight league matches to secure better standings and continue in the tournament.
While some teams that don’t automatically qualify for the knockout rounds may have another chance through a playoff round, those who rank too low will not have that opportunity. Additionally, the conditions for teams dropping from the Champions League to the Europa League have been revised this season.
Can teams drop to the Europa League from the Champions League this season?
Under the new structure for 2024/25, teams that are knocked out of the Champions League’s initial phase will not have the option to transfer to the Europa League.
Teams finishing 25th or lower in the league standings will be erased from European competition for the remainder of the season. Those who rank between 9th and 24th will participate in a two-legged knockout playoff, with eight teams advancing to the Round of 16. Teams losing in this playoff will also be eliminated from European play.
Why did UEFA change the drop rule from UCL to UEL?
The shift to the new league format, which entails a single overarching table, eliminates the traditional group stage from which teams could drop out.
A total of 22 out of 36 teams in the league phase will progress to the knockout stages, with the top eight advancing directly to the Round of 16, while those ranked 9th to 24th enter the playoff round.
With about two-thirds of the teams moving on to the knockout phase, and the Europa League adopting a similar structure, there’s no competitive justification for teams to drop between competitions, nor is there room for it.
Previously, half of the 32 teams in the group stage would advance, while eight would drop to the Europa League, allowing 24 teams to keep competing. Now, the same number of teams can continue their European journey, thanks to the expansion, even without the transfer to the Europa League.
UEFA’s intent behind these modifications is to ensure “that teams have meaningful stakes all the way to the last match of the league phase.” Furthermore, the removal of the option for Champions League teams to drop into the Europa League aims to enhance the fairness of that tournament for those who qualified for it properly.
Similarly, teams finishing at the bottom of the Europa League’s league phase will not be able to drop down to the Conference League.
