What is the new Champions League Swiss Model and how will it work?

Brace yourself, the current UCL format will change after next season

Fans desperate for the return of European club football will be happy to learn that in one week (June 27), their pain will be eased. It is as if the voice from Field of Dreams that said, “Ease his pain,” was heard by UEFA. The Champions League preliminary rounds will begin, with teams from Iceland, Romania, Montenegro, and San Marino trying to reach the qualifying round.   

The 2023-24 Champions League will be the last one as we know it. The modern Champions League tournament with its group stage and knockout rounds is the only version of the tournament I have known. The old two-legged knockout tournament was long dead before I was able to see the competition regularly. Even the previous Champions League format featuring two group stages before the knockout rounds is foreign to me.   

As UEFA and FIFA always seem to do, they are changing a good thing. UEFA will introduce a new Champions League format for the 2024-25 season. The Swiss Model will have 36 teams in the competition, up from the current 32.   

According to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, the Swiss Model "will still keep alive the dream of any team in Europe to participate in the UEFA Champions League thanks to results obtained on the pitch, and it will enable long-term viability, prosperity, and growth for everyone in European football, not just a tiny, self-selected cartel."  

The new version of the Champions League will keep the big clubs happy and stop any lingering possibility of a Super League forming for now. The Swiss Model could feature as many as seven Premier League teams. The addition of more Premier League teams will only water down the excitement of the race to finish in the European positions.   

The world of sports is moving into a world in which nearly every team can qualify for the playoffs – or in this case, the Champions League. In the NBA, over half the teams make the playoffs, while in the NHL, exactly 50% of the teams play in the postseason. This makes a regular season practically meaningless. Major football leagues in Europe are going in a similar direction.   

If last season’s Premier League had seven teams qualify for the Champions League, then Man City, Arsenal, Man United, and Newcastle United would be joined by Liverpool, Brighton, and Aston Villa. Two of those three teams would have qualified for the Champions League for the first time.  

The expanded Champions League will water down the domestic competitions, especially the Premier League, with potentially more teams making the Champions League without finishing in the top-four places.   

So, how does the Champions League's new Swiss Model format work?  

Well, all those football fans that love the group stage will see it eliminated. Instead, all 36 teams will be lumped into one table.   

Teams will play against 10 different teams in the group stage, playing five home matches and five away fixtures. There won’t be a home-away series between teams. Most importantly, not all the teams will play each other.   

Teams will play four more matches in the new Champions League format. The current group stage format only features six matches. The addition of matches means one thing: cold, hard cash for UEFA and its clubs.   

The group stage won’t be called the group stage. Rather, UEFA will call it the ‘league stage’ going forward. The points system will work as normal, with three points for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a defeat.  

The league stage’s top eight teams will automatically advance to the round of 16. To make the tournament convoluted, places No 9 to No 24 will play a playoff to see which teams qualify for the round of 16. Once the tournament gets past the playoff stage, it will resemble the Champions League as modern fans know it.   

You might ask, “Why change the greatest sports tournament in the world?” The answer, other than money, according to FIFA, is to provide more important matches early in the competition between big clubs.   

Yes, this does make some sense, as how often do you want to see the champions of the Czech Republic play Barcelona? The new format could see the likes of Manchester City play Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan all in the league stage. This would provide more excitement and could theoretically see several top teams eliminated early on.   

The Champions League format has not changed since 2003-04. By the time the new Swiss model starts, the format will have been used for 20 years. Like everything with football, fans will become used to it after a few seasons. Many older football fans simply want things to stay the same to make them happy. Yet, the future of football could be much different. The football we love isn’t going to be the same as the football our grandchildren watch.   

Perhaps the positive aspect of the new format is the possibility of every game having meaning. The results of a full table will likely have more impact than the results of a group of four. Moreover, the quality of opponents for the big clubs could be higher.   

The downside of the new Champions League is the added games for players. Once again, no one seems to care about the actual players. The football calendar is being filled up more and more with matches. Not only is it a problem for the players, but more matches aren’t great for fans.   

The UEFA Nations League just ended while Euro 2024 qualifying took place across Europe. After a long club season which featured the FIFA Men’s World Cup in the middle of it, I personally had no desire to watch international matches. The Women’s World Cup will kick off in a few weeks. With the rise of the women’s game, it only adds to an already congested calendar of football.   

There was a time I missed football during the offseason and couldn’t wait for the return of the Premier League in August. Now, I have no reason to yearn for it, with so much football to watch on a regular basis.   

Will the new Champions League be an upgrade on the previous one? Well, only time will tell. The new format does sound promising. But regardless of it being altered, I would have still spent my Tuesday and Wednesday nights glued to the TV watching the tournament – even if my team didn’t qualify.