Introduced this season, the Champions League’s new, 36-team league phase heads into matchday three this week.
The overall format of the Champions League may have been revamped ahead of the 2024/25 season, but there’s nothing new about the opening stage’s points-per-game scoring system.
What happens if UCL league-phase game is tied?
During the new ‘league phase’, which has replaced what was known as the ‘group stage’, teams earn three points for winning a game, and no points for losing. If the scores are level when the referee blows the final whistle after 90 minutes plus stoppage time, there is no extra time or penalties. The game is declared a tie and each team is awarded one point.
Where, previously, the points teams won in the Champions League’s opening phase went towards determining their position in a four-team group - with the top two in each section qualifying for the knockout stage - every club in the league phase is ranked in a single table. What’s more, there are 36 teams in the league-phase standings - four more than took part in the old group stage.
Under the new Champions League format, each team will play a total of eight league-phase games - four at home, four away - against eight different teams. At the end of the league phase, the top eight-ranked clubs will qualify automatically for the last 16. Clubs finishing ninth to 24th will have to negotiate a playoff to advance to the knockout stage proper.
What happens if there’s a points tie in the UCL league phase?
If two or more teams are level on points in the league phase, they will be separated by their goal difference across all of their fixtures during the opening stage. This represents another change from the Champions League’s format in previous seasons: in the former group stage, the top tiebreaker used was head-to-head results between the teams level on points. Switching to overall goal difference is a logical choice, given that teams level on points may well not have met during the league phase.