UEFA is poised to announce a change to the Champions League format that could have favoured Arsenal in the previous season, while also introducing a contentious new rule. The Gunners were compelled to play the second legs of their quarter and semi-final matches against Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain away from home, despite finishing significantly higher than them in the league phase.
This was due to the fact that home and away ties beyond the round of 16 – for which Arsenal, Aston Villa, and other top-eight finishers had home advantage – were determined by a random draw. However, this will no longer be the case.
UEFA has decided that for knockout games, the team that finished higher in the league will host the second leg. This is perceived as a significant advantage, particularly if the return match goes into extra time or penalties.
Arsenal could not capitalise on the support of the Emirates crowd in their second legs against Real and PSG, with the latter eliminating them in the semi-finals after fending off a late rally. Yet, there’s an unexpected twist, as reported by Spanish publication AS.
If a lower-ranked team defeats a higher-ranked team, they would ‘steal’ their spot and gain the home advantage in the subsequent round. This particular change by UEFA has split fans, as theoretically, a team that finishes 24th and progresses to the last 16 via the play-offs could end up having home advantage over a side that finished much higher in the league phase, reports the Mirror.
“Fine except for steal,” one fan expressed on Reddit regarding the new Champions League rules. “Just rebalance based on the group stage rankings of the remaining teams after each round. It’s not that complicated, and is more fair.”
Another supporter voiced their confusion: “Not sure what problem this is a solution to. Doesn’t that mean that if the 16th place team beats the first place team, the 16th place team effectively becomes the first placed? So they would leapfrog in the pecking order the teams that finished 3rd and 4th.”
A particularly critical Arsenal fan commented on X, previously known as Twitter: “Nice of them to add these new rules after Arsenal get absolutely shafted by the old ones.”
Meanwhile, another fan questioned the practicality of the changes: “Won’t the second part of this make the first part redundant, in practice?”.
The 2025-26 Champions League season commenced on Tuesday with the first qualifying round. The grand finale is set for the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday, May 30, while the draw for the league phase is scheduled for Thursday, August 28, when six Premier League clubs will find out their initial eight opponents.
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