A lottery like never before and software in the main role

The groups are not determined, but the names of the rivals - today from 18:XNUMX in the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo the draw for the new competition format in the Champions League

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Photo: UEFA
Photo: UEFA
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The place remains the same, the glamorous Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, but everything else is different, even unusual...

This season, after more than two decades, UEFA changed the format of the Champions League, so the draw for the first stage, which is no longer a classic group stage but a league stage, will be like never before.

It will be the story of the famous balls and, above all, modern software, which will determine each of the 36 participants of the UEFA elite with whom they will play in the first part of the Champions League.

The software changes 1.296 balls

The logical question before the draw, which will take place today from 18:1.296, is why the path in the Champions League is determined by the software... The answer is simple - to save time because, as ESPN writes, under the old system, the draw would have lasted more than three hours and would require XNUMX balls.

This time, the human factor will only be in charge of drawing a ball from one of the teams, after which the software enters the scene and determines eight different rivals for that team in the first phase of the European elite.

So, each team will play eight games, with eight different opponents - four at home, four away. The reason is logical because it is impossible for one team to play against all the remaining 35.

Real can't do it with Barca, but they can do it with two English teams

Hats are also determined for the draw, but from now on they are not so important. Previously, the first hat meant that the teams within it could not be in the same group, now this changes as each team will get two teams from each of the four hats as rivals.

What UEFA did not change - teams from the same country will not be able to meet in the first stage, but they can play against two from another. For example, the European champion Real won't play "el clasico" against Barcelona, ​​but they can get Manchester City and Liverpool as their rivals.

The first phase lasts until the end of January

This was exactly one of the biggest reasons for the format change, because UEFA is announcing many more derbies, but also more matches, so the first phase will bring 96 duels instead of the previous 144, and will last until the end of January.

After that, the best eight on the table will directly advance to the round of 24, while the teams that occupy positions from ninth to 16th expect one more knockout round (playoffs) in order to win a place among the best XNUMX.

Clubs that are placed from 25th to 36th place will have to accept relegation.

When you drop out, it's really over

The novelty of this season is that there is no longer a possibility for teams that have been relegated to continue their European adventures in the knockout phase of the Europa League (nor from that competition in the Conference League), but when they are relegated, then they really have finished with the story in the UEFA competitions for that season.

The American media giant ESPN has already done a simulation of the first phase and the conclusion is that the league guarantees excitement and that many things will not be resolved even after seven rounds. They emphasize that in the last (eighth) round, it is possible for the clubs to change places in the table for seven or eight positions.

Maybe at first glance everything looks a bit complicated, but everything will be clearer after today's events in the "Grimaldi Forum", and especially when the redesigned Champions League starts on September 17.

ASSEMBLE THE HAT

First: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona;

The second: Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, Milan;

the third: Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven, Dinamo Zagreb, RB Salzburg, Lille, Red Star, Young Boys, Celtic.

Fourth: Slovan Bratislava, Monaco, Sparta Prague, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm, Brest.

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