Everybody loves a cup draw, right? In the Champions League, they're changing.
Whether or not it’s two ex-pro journeymen plucking ping pong balls out of the hat at the end of The One Show or former World Cup winners doing the honours in front of hundreds of guests at one of FIFA’s underground lairs, a good draw never fails to excite.
But in a blow to draw fans everywhere, next season’s Champions League draw is set to be almost completely computerised.
Europe’s top club competition will undergo a radical change in the 2024/25 season, as the tournament is expanded to 36 teams. All teams will feature in one single league and play eight games - four home, and four away.
There will be four pots of nine teams, based on UEFA’s five-year coefficient, with each side facing two opponents from each pot and clubs not able to draw teams from their own country.
All this means that if the draw was to be done in the usual manner that fans are accustomed to, the draw would turn into a four-hour epic that featured 900 balls and would be something of a logistical nightmare.
Therefore a computer will now spit out the draw and display the teams and fixtures one by one. UEFA have confirmed that their system will be audited by Ernst & Young to ensure no irregularities.
As well as a new-look draw for the opening tranche of fixtures, it has also been confirmed that there will be two knockout round draws, one after the league phase finishes in January and a further last-16 draw in February. A bracket will then be set which will lay out all fixtures up to the final.
The changes come in for what will be the 70th season of the tournament, with the final taking place in May 2025 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
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