The UEFA Champions League is changing again next season – but only slightly.
The first season of the expanded 36-team competition comes to its conclusion on Saturday night as Paris Saint-Germain take on Inter Milan in the showpiece final in Munich.
Arsenal supporters may have a sense of jealousy and anger, having got so close to the final showdown, only to lose to PSG on aggregate in the semi-final.
The Gunners had dispatched holders Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, but could not overcome PSG over two legs in the semis.
The way those two legs played out was a bone of contention for some. The new format for the expanded competition meant that the top eight teams qualified for the last 16 automatically, with the teams from ninth to 24th facing off against one another in a play-off to determine the other eight qualifiers for the last 16.
Arsenal finished the league phase in third place, with six wins, one draw and one defeat to their name. Having thrashed PSV away and then home in the last 16, the Gunners were then paired with Los Blancos, but found out from there that each second leg would be away from home.
A home draw in the second leg is always more favourable and having finished third in the league phase, compared to Real Madrid’s 11th place finish and subsequently PSG’s 15th place finish, you might have expected them to receive preferential treatment.
But that is not how it worked out and while the Gunners saw off Madrid, they could not do the same against the Parisiens. Arsenal were particularly critical of the new format, but after just one season it will be changing.
If the same were to happen next season, Arsenal would play the second legs at home, rather than away, with the higher ranked team from the league phase always getting a home draw in the second leg of the knockout stages.
football.londonreported that UEFA were considering making the change and it is set to be ratified by the executive committe to be in effect for the 2025/26 campaign.
