Editing UEFA Champions League (section)

===League phase and knockout phase===
Beginning with the 2024–25 season, UEFA changed the format of their three club competitions, abandoning the group stage in favour of an expanded league phase.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Ben |last=Grounds |title=Champions League 2024/25: Everything you need to know about the new format of Europe's most prestigious club competition |url=https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13143876/champions-league-2024-25-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-format-of-europes-most-prestigious-club-competition |website=[[Sky Sports]] |date=14 August 2024 |access-date=22 August 2024 }}</ref> The number of participating teams was increased from 32 to 36 teams. Teams are no longer divided into groups of four teams each but are ranked in a single table resembling the [[Swiss-system tournament]] format.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-09 |title=What is the Swiss Model in Champions League? UEFA's new UCL format to replace group stage explained |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/swiss-model-champions-league-uefa-debut-ucl-format-group-stage/a2d1e16bb0f0d24b364d4db4 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Sporting News |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-10 |title=New Champions League format explained: How does 'Swiss' system work, number of teams, league phase |url=https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/new-champions-league-format-explained-how-does-swiss-system-work-number-of-teams-league-phase/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=CBSSports.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ames |first=Nick |date=2024-08-28 |title=Everything you need to know about the new ‘Swiss model’ Champions League |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/aug/28/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-swiss-model-champions-league |access-date=2025-05-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents. For the draw of the league phase, teams are divided into four seeding pots according to their [[UEFA coefficient]]. Each team will play against two teams from each pot, one home and one away. The league phase is played from September to January, while the knockout phase begins in February, with matches predominantly played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

After the league phase, a two-legged knockout play-off round is played between teams finishing 9–16 (seeded) and 17–24 (unseeded) in the league phase. Teams finishing in the top eight of the league phase receive a bye to the round of 16 as seeded teams, while the eight winning teams from the knockout play-off round will enter the round of 16 draw as unseeded teams. Teams finishing 25th–36th place in the league phase and the eight losers of the knockout play-offs are eliminated from the competition and from European football since it is no longer possible to enter the Europa League from the league phase onwards.

After the round of 16 the competition follows the traditional knockout format with quarter-finals, semi-finals (both two legged and without association draw protection) and then the final at a venue chosen prior to the season. The final is typically held in late May or early June.

Prior to the 2024–25 season, there was a group stage of 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four.<ref name="CL Format">{{cite news |title=Champions League explained |url=https://www.premierleague.com/uefa-champions-league-explained |access-date=16 January 2020 |website=PremierLeague.com |archive-date=16 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116055207/https://www.premierleague.com/uefa-champions-league-explained |url-status=live}}</ref> The draw to determine which teams entered each group was [[Seed (sports)|seeded]] based on each team's [[UEFA coefficient]], and no group could contain more than one club from each association. Each team played six group stage games, meeting the other three teams in its group home and away in a round-robin format.<ref name="CL Format"/> The first place team and the runners-up from each group then progressed to the next round. The third-placed teams entered the Europa League's knockout round and the fourth-placed teams were eliminated from the competition.

For the next stage—the last 16—the winning team from one group played against the runners-up from another group, but teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other (see [[random two-sided matching]]). From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw was entirely random, without association protection.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Regulations/competitions/Regulations/01/63/02/44/1630244_DOWNLOAD.pdf |title=Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2011/12 |page=10 |website=[[UEFA]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616163203/https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Regulations/competitions/Regulations/01/63/02/44/1630244_DOWNLOAD.pdf |archive-date=16 June 2011}}</ref>

The group stage was played from September to December, whilst the knockout stage began in February, with matches usually played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. The knockout ties were played in a two-legged format, with the exception of the final. In the [[2019–20 UEFA Champions League|2019–20 season]], due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] the tournament was suspended for five months. The format of the remainder of the tournament was temporarily amended as a result, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being played as single match knockout ties at neutral venues in Lisbon, Portugal in the summer with the final taking place on 23 August 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/soccer/report?gameId=573698|title=Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain to win Champions League|publisher=ESPN|date=23 August 2020|access-date=23 August 2020|archive-date=7 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107084610/https://www.espn.com/soccer/report?gameId=573698|url-status=live}}</ref>