UEFA are reportedly considering three significant format changes to be brought in for next season’s Champions League.
The first season of the newly-expanded competition is reaching its conclusion with Arsenal, PSG, Barcelona and Inter Milan all in the hunt to be crowned champions of Europe.
With the semi-finals just days away, UEFA are already looking ahead to how they can improve the competition for 2025-26, and they could act on one issue that has been raised by the Gunners.
According to Bild, UEFA may change their rules so that teams finishing higher in the league phase get home advantage for the return leg in the knockout stages.
The eight teams that qualified automatically for the knockout rounds played at home in the second leg in the last-16 this season, but this is currently not the case for the quarter-finals or semi-finals.
As a result, Arsenal played the second leg of their quarter-final against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu despite finishing eight positions above the Spanish giants in the league table. Mikel Arteta’s men still managed to progress 5-1 on aggregate after winning both legs.
Significant changes could be brought in for next season’s Champions League
Arsenal were forced to play the second leg of their quarter-final tie at the Bernabeu despite finishing above Real Madrid in the league phase
Arsenal will also have to travel to Paris for the second leg of their semi-final against Liverpool’s conquerors PSG, but a rule change could mean this is no longer the case next season
They will also have to travel to Paris for the second leg of their semi-final with PSG next month. Arsenal finished third in the league phase, while PSG were 15th and had to come through the play-off round.
Playing the second leg at home is widely seen as an advantage, and Arsenal are believed to be annoyed that this has been taken away from them after they excelled in the league phase.
Another change being considered is the removal of extra time. UEFA are understood to be looking into sending ties that finish all square straight to penalties to ease player workload.
The final alteration that could be brought in concerns teams from the same country playing each other.
This season’s Champions League saw PSG face fellow Ligue 1 outfit Brest in the play-offs, while Bayern Munich played Bayer Leverkusen and Real faced Atletico Madrid in the round of 16.
However, these ties are not viewed as attractive for fans and broadcasters, and UEFA could opt to bring back the protection rule that means teams from the same nation cannot play each other until the quarter-finals.
This rule was previously in place prior to the competition changing to 36 sides and moving to a league phase rather than a group stage format this season.
The Club Competitions Committee is due to meet to discuss the proposals in Munich on May 30, just one day before this season’s final at the Allianz Arena.
