The beginning of the Champions League 2025–26 league phase is drawing nearer and excitement is building for the return of Europe’s premier competition.
Thirty-six teams will duke it out during the league phase to earn a coveted position in the knockout round of the Champions League, an arena in which the characteristic chaos of the competition reaches even dizzier heights.
The new-look Champions League format was first employed last season and is almost entirely the same for the current campaign, but there is one potentially crucial difference once the knockout rounds arrive.
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This season’s Champions League sees an alteration to the venue at which knockout ties are played. Last term, a random draw decided which club would host the second leg of quarterfinal and semifinal ties in the competition. Playing at home in the second leg is viewed as a major benefit to participants, who have the opportunity to soak up the energy of their own fans as they seek progression.
However, this season things have changed and the destination of the second leg is based on league phase performance. Clubs who finish in the top four will be guaranteed their quarterfinal second leg on home soil, with those in the top two also certain of home advantage in their semifinal second leg—should they reach that stage of the competition, of course.
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But things are not quite that straightforward. The luxury of hosting the second leg can be won—for example, Paris Saint-Germain, who finished 15th in last season’s league phase, beat table toppers Liverpool in the last 16 and would have won the right to play their quarterfinal and semifinal second legs at home had those events unfolded this season.
UEFA’s Champions League rulebook reads: “Seeded teams, i.e. teams ranked 1 to 4 after the league phase, play the return leg at home in the quarter-finals, and teams ranked 1 and 2 also play the return leg of the semi-finals at home. If a seeded team is beaten in any round, the team that eliminates them takes over their seeding position in the bracket path (i.e. the higher ranking for seeding purposes is not recalculated after each round).”
There are concerns over this rule change as it now means sides who finish third or fourth in the league phase cannot have home advantage in the semifinal second leg.
The rule has been changed due to complaints from both Barcelona and Arsenal over the structure of last season’s knockout phase.
Arsenal were forced to play Paris Saint-Germain away from home in their 2024–25 semifinal despite finishing 12 places higher than the eventual European champions during the league phase. The Gunners were frustrated that they were in a disadvantageous position for the all-important second leg despite a superior league phase campaign.
However, Arsenal would still be made to play last season’s semifinal second leg in Paris should history repeat itself this term, with PSG having won home advantage by beating Liverpool in the aforementioned clash in the last 16.
Barcelona found themselves in the same position, forced to play their second legs on the road in both the quarterfinals and semifinals. They almost surrendered their 4–0 home lead to Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park in the last eight and were then knocked out in extra time by Inter at San Siro in the semis.
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