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UEFA are said to be implementing some changes in the Champions League for the 2025-26 campaign.
The new format was designed in an attempt to increase fairness in draws and an increase of matches. However, it was felt some rules could have been disadvantageous to certain teams, leaving room for improvement.
Currently, a team's ranking in the league phase decides their seeding for the play-off round. The top eight teams in the table directly qualify for the round of 16, where they face a play-off winner and get home advantage in the second leg.
This campaign's fixtures for the later rounds have dismissed that advantage as it has been determined by random draw after the round of 16. This led to the teams who did better in the group stage playing the home leg first at the quarter-final or semi-final stage.
Arsenal and Barcelona have been on the receiving end of this disadvantage in the ongoing season.
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What changes are expected from UEFA in the Champions League next season?
There are three changes expected to be made by UEFA for the next Champions League campaign. The second-leg home advantage for higher-ranked teams in the table is anticipated to be one of them, according to German publication, Bild.
The aforementioned report also suggested that the current format has received criticism from Arsenal, who qualified for the Champions League semi-final despite missing out on the home advantage in the quarter-final second leg.
Another change that is expected to be implemented includes the dismissal of extra-time in knockout games. Those matches will directly advance to penalty shootouts if the scores are tied on aggregate.
Clubs from the same countries could be kept apart until the quarter-finals as part of the third possible change for the next campaign. This clause was used in the old format, where eight groups of four teams competed followed by a knockout stage, with the teams from the same country being separated until the quarter-finals.
The Club Competitions Committee could reach a decision on these changes following a meeting on May 30, with proposals then being submitted to the UEFA's executive committee before they are finalized and implemented.
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