"After more than three decades of 32 teams across eight groups, a second campaign of 36 teams in one league phase will see its first games take place across the coming days. Six English clubs feature in this season's league phase, having benefitted from winning one of the two extra places available last season and with Tottenham winning last season's Europa League."
"Last season's league phase winners Liverpool did not get the rub of the green and were knocked out in their first knockout round match. Arne Slot's side were drawn against Paris St-Germain, who finished 15th in the league phase, and had to overcome fellow French side Brest in a knockout round play-off - which PSG won 10-0 on aggregate. PSG then beat Liverpool on penalties after a 1-1 draw on aggregate,"
"Finishing in the top eight means skipping the knockout round play-off and giving those teams a place straight in the last 16. Only half of the top eight reached the quarter-finals, and only three progressed into the semi-finals, with Atletico Madrid, Lille, Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool all falling at the first hurdle. Those four teams were beaten by Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and PSG, four clubs who realistically could and should have finished in the top eight."
UEFA expanded the Champions League from 32 teams in eight groups to a 36-team single league phase. The new format gives league-phase winners a theoretically easier last-16 tie against 15th or 16th-placed teams, while top-eight finishers skip a knockout play-off and go straight to the last 16. Last season showed unpredictability: the league-phase winner Liverpool exited early after drawing PSG, who had beaten Brest 10-0 in a play-off and then won the competition. Only half of the top-eight clubs reached the quarter-finals, indicating that a top-eight finish does not ensure deep progress.
Read at www.bbc.com
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