The year of 2025 has not robbed us of surprises at all. Manchester City seem to have lost their magic touch and are currently going through their worst run of form. Arsenal FC have yet again fallen short in their quest towards a Premier League victory. Because of this, Liverpool have become favourites to win the league following their recent scores of victory. This article is not only about the league, though.
Europe’s biggest and toughest football competition has entered a new era this season. The new Champions League consists of a format that allows teams to advance into a playoff stage. This will end with 16 teams playing good,old-fashioned two-legged knockout football. This is known as the Swiss model. The new format allows 189 games to be played instead of the previous 125, meaning more broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals that inevitably equate to increased revenue. Money aside, this new format is applauded for being fair, as the quality of the matches is more dynamic. It also allows for more teams to be sent home, which leaves the strong teams to compete against one another.
Here is a breakdown of how the league is formatted. At the beginning of the season, there are 36 teams and eight rounds of football. Each team plays eight different opponents to compete for league points. The top eight teams at the end of the eighth week will automatically qualify for the round of 16 knockout stage. Positions 9 to 24 will have a two-legged playoff, and then eight teams will qualify to make up the round of 16. The higher-ranked teams will then face the lower-ranked ones.
As the eighth round comes to a close, we look forward to some fierce competition in the playoff round.
The fixtures are as follows:
- Manchester City v Real Madrid
- Bayern Munich v Celtic
- Club Brugge v Atalanta
- Sporting CP v Borussia Dortmund
- Juventus v PSV Eindhoven
- Feyenoord v AC Milan
- Stade Brestois v PSG
- AS Monaco v SL Benfica
The top eight teams are Liverpool, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, Losc Lille, and Aston Villa. The gentlemen that were not quite up to scratch are Dinamo Zagreb, VfB Stuttgart, Bologna, RB Leipzig, Girona, Shakhtar Donetsk, Red Star Belgrade, Red Bull Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, Galatasaray, FC Copenhagen, and Antwerp. Thank you to these players for coming.
