Liverpool could find themselves facing a Premier League rival in the revamped Champions League group-stages, after UEFA confirmed the new format for the 2024/25 season onwards.
The Reds missed out on qualifying for the 2023/24 edition of Europe’s elite competition, but will be looking to secure an immediate return to the Champions League this season. Should they win the Europa League, they would qualify automatically regardless of their Premier League finish, while a top four finish earns qualification as normal.
However, depending on how English sides fare in European football this season, the Premier League could earn a fifth qualifying berth for the 2024/25 edition of the Champions League - which will be the first season of the new ‘Swiss model’ of the tournament.
The increased 36-team group-stages will see all sides put into the same league table. There, they will play eight group-matches, with four taking place at home and four away games.
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As a result of the expanded group-stages, the two additional group games are set to take place in late January reports Dale Johnson of ESPN, in contrast to the current traditional December finish.
Meanwhile, Johnson also reports that while clubs from the same association will not be drawn against each other in the league phase, associations with four or five clubs in the league phase will be allowed to draw one other team from their country. With the Premier League guaranteed at least four qualifying berths, Liverpool and their domestic rivals face the prospect of being drawn against one English side in the Champions League group-stages from 2024/25 onwards as a result, though UEFA will try to avoid such a scenario where possible.
For the knockout stages, clubs will face a tennis-style, fully seeded format. Consequently, they will have their route right through to the final seeded and pre-drawn, based largely upon their group ranking. For example, the top two teams in the group stage would be on opposing sides of the knockout draw and not be able to face each other until the final itself.
Country protection is also set to be scrapped after the group-stages, meaning it would also be possible for Liverpool to face a domestic rival in either the knockout play-off round on the round-of-16, in contrast to the current format where such a draw is not possible until the quarter-finals.
