on January 29th. The Champions League format will change starting from the next edition, as its group stage has been altered by adding teams as well as introducing a new mini-league format.
From the 2024-2025 season onwards, there will be 36 teams participating in the group stage, with teams playing four matches at home and four away, and with a common ranking for all participating teams.
With this format, group stage matches will not conclude as usual in the first part of the season, but will only conclude in the final week of January. And precisely in the final match that the teams will play, there will be a true surprise, as all matches will be played at the same time.
While in previous weeks matches were divided between Tuesday and Wednesday, also at alternative times, in the final week, all 18 matches will be played simultaneously on Wednesday, January 29th at 9:00 PM.
Since each match is crucial for the overall ranking, UEFA has decided that they should be played at the same time, so that no one knows what is happening on the other fields to plan a specific game strategy. The overall ranking also determines the figures that UEFA will distribute to the participants from TV rights, so the international organization does not want matches where one team or another knows what is needed for a specific position.
