FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
There is only one round left to play in the first phase of the new Champions League format. On Wednesday, January 29, all the final group matches will be played, at 21:00.
The top eight teams from the 36-team league stage will automatically qualify for the last 16, leaving eight more places to be decided via the play-off route.
The "play off" will include 8 challenges between teams ranked from 9th to 24th. The winners of these matches (the first legs are played on February 11 and 12 and the return legs on February 18 and 19) will face the 8 top-ranked teams in the group stage, who qualify directly.
All of this, according to a new system, will take place in a “tennis” format, which will determine the path of each of the 16 teams until the final in Munich on May 31. The draw for the “play-offs” will be held on Friday, January 31, in Nyon, the headquarters of UEFA. This draw will be organized in pairs. The first two teams below the direct qualification zone (9th and 10th in the ranking) will face the teams from the last two places (23rd and 24th).
The draw will determine whether the 9th will face the 23rd or 24th and, consequently, who the opponent of the 10th will be. The same will happen for all other pairings: the 11th and 12th against the 21st or 22nd, the 13th and 14th against the 19th or 20th, the 15th and 16th against the 17th or 18th. The teams from the 9th to the 16th place will play the return match at home.
On February 21, also in Nyon, the draw for the Champions League round of 16 will be made (first legs on March 4 and 5, second legs on March 11 and 12). The principle remains the same: the top two teams in the group stage standings (e.g., Liverpool and Barcelona currently) will face the winners of the play-offs between the teams ranked 15/16 and 17/18.
It goes like this: 3rd and 4th against the winners of the play-offs between the teams ranked 13/14 and 19/20; 5th and 6th against the winners of the play-offs between the teams ranked 11/12 and 21/22; 7th and 8th against the winners of the play-offs between the teams ranked 9/10 and 23/24.
After that, the schedule will follow a "tennis" format, where the top two teams ranked in the group stage are placed at either end of the table, with the opportunity to face each other only in the final.
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