Will any Champions League teams drop to Europa League this season?

The new format will see the top eight teams secure a direct place in the round of 16.

With 22 teams presently awaiting their fate, the first Champions League league phase is expected to have an intriguing conclusion.

On Wednesday, January 29 all 18 games will take place simultaneously. 16 of those will reveal the fate of every team in the league.

Following their loss to Paris St-Germain on Wednesday, Manchester City are in serious danger of being eliminated, while Liverpool are already through, Arsenal are nearly there, and Aston Villa and Celtic—who play each other—are in the middle.

With teams’ hopes perhaps depending on other games’ outcomes, the “as it stands” table will be updated continuously.

In contrast to the previous four-team groups with two teams advancing, where there was occasionally nothing left to play for at the end, this is the first season under the current format.

Will any Champions League team drop to the Europa League this season?

Teams that have been eliminated from the initial phase of the Champions League competition will not be eligible to play in the Europa League as part of the 2024–2025 format change.

Teams will be immediately excluded from European participation for the remainder of the season if they place 25th or worse in the league phase. Eight teams will advance to the Round of 16 from a two-leg knockout playoff round that will be played between the league’s ninth and twenty-fourth placed teams. Additionally, the defeated teams from that round of the playoffs will be out.

Due to the switch to the new format – league phase, which includes a single huge table, there is no group stage, from which clubs could have dropped to the Europa League.

The goal of UEFA’s modifications was to guarantee “that there is more to play for all the way through to the final night of the league phase.” It is also believed that by preventing Champions League teams from dropping into the Europa League, the competition will be more equitable for the teams that earned a spot.

Similarly, teams that finished outside of the playoff spots in the league phase of the Europa League will not be demoted to the Conference League.

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