The radical change is every club will play the eight fixtures against eight different opponents, four at home and four away. The top eight sides qualify for the knockout stage, with the teams finishing ninth to 24th going into two-legged play-offs in order to reach the last 16.
Similar format changes will be made to the Europa League, with eight matches in the league stage as well, and the Conference League (six matches). These two competitions will feature 36 teams at that point of the tournament.
Each competition will be self-contained from the group stage onwards, meaning teams eliminated from the Champions League can no longer drop into the Europa League, for example.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin commented: “We are convinced that the format chosen strikes the right balance and that it will improve the competitive balance and generate solid revenues that can be distributed to clubs, leagues and into grassroots football across our continent, while increasing the appeal and popularity of our club competitions.”
