The UEFA Champions League remains Europe’s most prestigious club competition, a tournament that, since its origins as the European Cup in 1955, has evolved into a global spectacle. As of the 2024–25 season, it entered its 70th edition and marked the 33rd season since the rebranding to its current name. While the prestige remains uncompromised, UEFA introduced its most sweeping format overhaul since 2003–04, reshaping how fans and clubs experience the competition, especially with the new league phase affecting the UEFA Champions League standings more dynamically than ever before.

A Rich Legacy

Originally launched as a knockout competition featuring only domestic champions, the tournament evolved significantly in 1992–93, introducing a group stage and welcoming runners-up from elite leagues. Ever since then, the platform grew up to showcase Europe's top-class footballers and clubs, Real Madrid with 15 titles being the most successful. The other multiple winners include Milan, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Ajax, Juventus, and Benfica.

2024–25 Season: Format Revolution

In a bold move, UEFA scrapped the traditional group stage in favor of a 36-team single-league “Swiss-style” format across the initial phase. Each club played eight games four at home, four away against eight different opponents determined via a seeded draw. This elevated the number of matches from 96 (group stage) to 144 in the new league phase alone.

The top eight teams advanced directly to the Round of 16, while teams ranked 9th to 24th entered two-legged knockout playoffs to determine the remaining eight places. Clubs finishing 25th or lower were eliminated outright, with no transfer to the Europa League.

Knockout Phase: Drama on Every Leg

Following the famous football league phase, the tournament transitioned to a familiar knockout format: Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, then a single-leg final held at a pre-selected venue.

The knockout playoffs featured seeded teams (9th–16th) facing unseeded sides (17th–24th), with seeded teams enjoying the second leg at home. Seedings throughout the Round of 16 favored league phase rankers, creating a dynamic linkage between early-season performance and playoff progression.

By design, this structure maintained suspense deep into January, as league-phase matchdays often saw multiple scenarios for qualification unfurling simultaneously.

Why the New Format Matters

UEFA's new format was thought up to remedy the predictable financial imbalance and disengagement of fans. By offering more clubs to elite competition and by decreasing the repetitions among themselves, the Swiss model has given life again to a competition that was becoming boring in certain parts.

Viewership and TV rights revenues surged: broadcasters reported increases of around 20–25%, reflecting heightened global interest. The restructure also helped smaller clubs remain engaged later into the league phase, boosting competition and reducing stagnation about midway through the season.

However, critics raised concerns over fixture congestion and player fatigue a more demanding schedule has coincided with reports of rising injuries at top clubs, and players' unions voiced caution about further expansion.

Clubs, Coefficients & Representation

Participation increased to a total of 81 clubs across 53 associations, drawing attention to the rising performance of mid-tier nations. The expanded access list also introduced new methods for qualification through UEFA coefficients, granting additional slots to associations with high club performance in the previous season.

This season included debut league-phase appearances from clubs like Brest, Girona, Atalanta, and Aston Villa, pointing to wider representation and the possibility of surprise upsets.

The Grand Finale: PSG’s Triumph

The pinnacle of the 2024–25 campaign took place on 31 May 2025 at Munich’s Allianz Arena, where Paris Saint-Germain faced Inter Milan in the final. In front of roughly 64,000 fans, PSG delivered a dismantling performance, winning 5–0 to lift their first ever Champions League crown, a record-winning margin in a final of this competition.

With this victory, PSG completed a continental treble joining an elite list of clubs to do so and coach Luis Enrique became the second manager ever to win the treble twice. Inter Milan’s dramatic semi-final victory over Barcelona (a 7–6 aggregate thriller) was overshadowed by PSG’s emphatic supremacy in the final.

Takeaways and Legacy

Endowed by the Champions League with change in a shift to the league phase, tactical unpredictability has been introduced, with matches increased and globo appeal.

Fan and broadcast engagement soared along that gave weight to the UEFA hope that the new format would interest supporting viewership and making money.

The tournament has maintained its stature but has made some access and opportunity for clubs away from the European big guns.

In spite of the wear-and-tear concern, the format brought drama and representation to all stages of the competition, and those dramatics were heightened by narratives.

Thus, the 2024-25 edition of the UEFA Champions League gave evidence of its ability to innovate while retaining the magic that has been overshadowing European football for several decades. Season 2024–25 did not just crown a new champion in PSG; it set forth the blueprint of how the competition could be structured and experienced from here-on.

UEFA Champions League 2024–25: Format, History, Final & Key Highlights