Among the many new features that fans and enthusiasts will have to get used to regarding the new one Champions League, there is also the way to fill in the long-awaited bands. This is the division into four “ballots” of the teams participating in the first phase (32 up to this year and 36 from 2024/25), which determine the opponents in the initial part of the competition.
Until the current season, the brackets were used to establish the four teams in each of the eight groups of the tournament. Starting from next season, with the cancellation of the group phase, the brackets will be used to determine the eight different opponents that each team will face before the knockout phase. But how will the determination of the flanks change starting from the next edition of the Champions League?
The placings in the championship will still serve to establish the teams that will take part in the highest European club competition, but becoming Champion of Italy (as well as of England, Spain, Germany, etc.) will no longer make the difference between access to the championship or not. first band (a non-secondary aspect, at present, to hope for a simpler path in the Champions League).
Champions League 2024 2025 brackets – How the teams are divided
As emerges from official UEFA documents, «the 36 teams will be divided into four pots of nine based on the individual ranking established at the start of the season (coefficient over five seasons, including the previous season)». And here comes the news, because the «first tier in the Champions League will include the European Champion team and the top eight teams in the club rankings», while in Europa League the «first bracket will include the top nine teams classified».
A significant innovation compared to the current methods of construction of the strips. In fact, in the first tier – in addition to the national champions of the six best European championships – there will no longer be either winner of the Europa Leaguewhich will retain the right to participate in the Champions League but will be placed in the relevant bracket, based on the ranking.
«Bands 2, 3 and 4“, Instead, “will include all other teams in their ranking order», exactly as it has been until now. Once the various brackets have been established, each team will be drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots, playing one home match and one away match for each pot (also in this case the choice will be made by drawing lots).
Champions League 2024 2025 brackets – Predictions
Based on the current rankings in the national leagues and the UEFA five-year ranking (both in possible evolution until the end of the season), Football and Finance simulated the brackets of the new Champions League, also taking into account the two additional places for Italy And England, currently the two Federations that have the greatest probability of winning the two extra places in the first phase of the new Champions League.
The teams included are those that currently occupy – in their respective leagues – the places that guarantee direct access to the UEFA Champions League. The nine vacant positions go to the two winners of Champions and Europa League and to the seven teams that will emerge from the playoffs, which is why, especially between the third and fourth brackets, there will still be many variations.
Champions League 2024 2025 brackets – The Italians
Looking only at Italian clubs, theInter – one of the three teams already mathematically qualified for the next edition of the Champions League – is certain to be in the first pot, and so will the Rome in case of qualification. Milan And Juventus they will instead occupy the second band, while the Bolognain the event of qualification, will almost certainly be placed in the fourth tier, even if for the moment it is positioned in third considering only direct access from the championships.
