The new format of the Champions League has certainly divided opinion between supporters, experts and clubs, but the redesigned league phase saw some upheavals along the way.
Manchester City suffered defeats against Sports CP, Juventus and PSG while drawing with Feyenoord when they missed the top eight. Elsewhere, Real Madrid has just appeared in the Top 24, losing against Lille, Milan and Liverpool.
The tastes of Lille and Aston Villa finished in the top eight, thus guaranteeing a place in the round of 16 without the need for additional equality.
Real, PSG, Man City, Milan and Dortmund will all face an additional couple of matches due to the sub-performance in the group phase, and it seems that this new format allows those who lower the hierarchical order a chance Ideal to strengthen their coefficient.
From this season, 36 teams play in the group’s phase, against 32 in the old format. This increase in participants means that two additional places will go to the most efficient leagues in Europe each season.
Depending on the performance of clubs in some leagues, an additional place could be awarded – which means that Chelsea and Newcastle United may have an additional chance to return to the higher table of European football via the League. But how does it all work?
Related
The 11 highest games in the Champions League of all time
After the recent Thriller of Nine Goers from Barcelona against Benfica, we took a look at the most scores games in the Champions League.
Due to the expansion of 32 to 36 teams in the Champions League from the 2024/25 season, there are four additional potential tracks to the final tournament.
Two places are reserved for the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League winners, although these teams will generally demand their UCL place via their league position, which means that two more and more sides of the classification of the coefficients of the ‘team can go to the league phase.
With Atalanta winning the Europa League and finishing 4th in Serie A, their place was taken by Benfica, who was the team with the highest five -year coefficient classification which had not already been qualified.
After the Liga champions, Real Madrid won the Champions League in June, their niche went to the best classified domestic champion so as not to qualify automatically – Shakhtar Donetsk.
The other two niches are determined by the collective performance of nations in Europe, which means that it may not be clear what leagues will receive another niche from the Champions League until the season is deep.

Related
The best champions league / European cup – classified
Before the Champions League final, here are the best events of past years.
The remaining two berths are allocated via UEFA European performance spots.
These places will go to associations with the best overall performance of their clubs in the previous season. Last season, Dortmund reached the final of the Champions League, Bayern Munich reached the semi-finals, and Bayer Leverkusen reached the Europa League final, giving Germany one of the two additional places available .
Elsewhere, Bologna obtained the fifth place of Serie A, which allowed them to qualify for the first time at the phases of groups in the Champions League. This was due to the victory in Atalanta of the Europa League, the Fiorentina reaching the final of the conference league and the Inter, Napoli and Lazio reaching the last 16 of the Champions League.

Related
The 10 best clubs with the most victories in the Champions League games
All Bar One won the Champions League before …
How the classification of coefficients is determined
Whatever the European competition, each victory is worth two coefficient points, a draw gets a point and you do not get anything for a defeat. The penalty shootings are not taken into account, the score after 120 minutes being used as a determining factor if a game reaches the extension.
The points won by all one nation clubs are faced before being divided by the number of clubs in this country in Europe this season.
For example, if a country marks 70 points of coefficient and has six teams in Europe, its score would be 11,667. The two nations with the highest values then have an additional place in the Champions League thanks to their national league.

Related
The best scorers in the Champions League of all time
Who was the best in the face of the famous club competition?
How the bonus points system works
From this season, performance in the Champions League has become more precious compared to the Europa League and the conference league.
Previously, the maximum number of bonus points for a club in the first European club competition was 12 years. Now, 18 bonus points are offered, while 10 are available in the Europa League and 6 in the conference league (against eight and four respectively).
Each club participating in the Champions League now obtains six additional bonus points just for participating in the group phase, against four in the previous format.
Consequently, countries with more teams in the Champions League are more likely to find themselves near the annual ranking.

Related
CBS Sports Golazo: 6 hilarious moments of the Champions League show
It would not be a UCL night without this lot …
Current coefficient ranking 2024/25
In the current race for European performance spots, England is in a dominant position to obtain five places in the Premier League Champions League. No English club has been eliminated from Europe so far this season, with only Manchester City to undergo eliminatory equality.
Italy and Spain are in a tense battle for one of the additional champions league squares in the next quarter. Bologna was eliminated from the competition, while Juventus, Atalanta and Milan must negotiate the qualifiers to make the last 16 of the Champions League, while the Roma play in Porto in the Europa League.
Girona has failed to qualify for direct elimination stadiums, but Real Madrid, Real Betis and Real Sociedad face dams to do the last 16 in the Champions League and in the Europa League.
Germany – recipient of an additional slit last year – seems to be practically out of discord. Three Bundesliga teams are already outside Europe, with three other direct elimination games.
In the current state of things, Portugal, France and Belgium are all likely to sneak in the first two.
Row | Nation | 24/25 points | Clubs |
1 | England | 20.892 | 7/7 |
2 | Italy | 17.312 | 7/8 |
3 | Spain | 17.178 | 6/7 |
4 | Portugal | 14,750 | 4/5 |
5 | Germany | 14,671 | 5/8 |
6 | France | 13.928 | 5/7 |
7 | Belgium | 13.150 | 5/5 |
8 | The Netherlands | 11.916 | 5/6 |
9 | Greece | 11.062 | 3/4 |
10 | Suede | 10.125 | 1/4 |
Correct table on February 10, 2025 |
Current Premier League classification
Liverpool and Arsenal can fight for the title, but the race for fifth place in the table is undoubtedly the most exciting aspect of the elite at the moment.
At the time of writing the editorial time, Man City is in fifth place, currently seated with 41 points in their 24 games. Newcastle has the same number of points, while Bournemouth, the seventh, drags the pair with a lonely point.
Further from the table, Aston Villa has 37 points, Fulham 36 and Brighton and Hove Albion 34. It may be unlikely that the last two will secure football from the Champions League next season.
This race for fifth coveted place is warmed up when the league enters the last months. The security of football in the Champions League could give the majority of these teams a major financial boost.
They all hope that Liverpool and Arsenal will progress as much as they can in Europe to ensure that there is an additional route in the Champions League.
Premier League: race for the top five | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Row | Team | P | GD | Pts |
3 | Nottingham Forest | 24 | +13 | 47 |
4 | Chélat | 24 | +16 | 43 |
5 | Man | 24 | +13 | 41 |
6 | Newcastle | 24 | +13 | 41 |
7 | Bournemouth | 24 | +13 | 40 |
8 | Aston Villa | 24 | -3 | 37 |
9 | Fulham | 24 | +4 | 36 |
10 | Brighton | 24 | -3 | 34 |
Last update: February 10, 2025 |

Related
8 reasons arsenal can still win the title of Premier League
Liverpool can race, but there is still a reason for optimism in northern London.