Young Boys, FC Red Bull Salzburg, and Sparta Prague have qualified for the league phase of this year’s new-look Champions League.
Under the new format, the Champions League increased the number of teams participating from 32 to 36. Teams will play eight matches in the new league phase—previously called the group stage—instead of six. The qualifying squads will no longer play three opponents twice—home and away—but will instead face fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half away.
The teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots to determine the eight opponents. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of the four pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home and one away.
Overall, 189 Champions League matches will be in the main competition, an increase from 125 in previous years. The final will be played in Munich on May 31, 2025.
“I am really pleased that it was a unanimous decision of the UEFA Executive Committee, with the European Club Association, European Leagues and national associations all agreeing with the proposal made. Another proof that European football is more united than ever.”
Young Boys, the last season’s Swiss Super League winner, advanced with a 1–0 win at Turkish side Galatasaray, clinching a 4–2 aggregate victory. Young Boys forward Alan Virginius scored the lone goal in the 87th minute on Tuesday.
Young Boys clinched the victory despite missing several players because of injuries, including Young forward and Guinea national Facinet Conte and right-back Saidy Janko, who played internationally for Switzerland at the youth level before switching allegiances to play for the Gambia national team.
Galatasaray was eliminated from the Champions League for the second time in three years.
Red Bull Salzburg, which finished first in last year’s Austrian Bundesliga, will make its sixth consecutive appearance in the Champions League after a 1–1 draw against visiting Dynamo Kyiv, earning a 3–1 aggregate victory. Adam Daghim scored for Red Bull Salzburg in the 12th minute before Vladyslav Vanat tied the game 17 minutes later. Red Bull Salzburg will join Sturm Graz as two Austrian teams that qualified for the league phase.
Sparta Prague, which won the Czech First League last season, qualified for the league phase with a 2–0 victory against Swedish side Malmo. Sparta Prague finished with a 4–0 overall aggregate. In the latter game, Sparta Prague got late goals from Lukas Haraslin (80th minute) and Albion Rrahmani (83rd minute) to seal the win.
The four remaining spots will be filled on Wednesday in playoff games featuring Qarabag vs. GNK Dinamo (0–3 aggregate), Slovan Bratislava vs. Midtjylland (1–1), Crvena Zvezda vs. Bodo/Glimt (1–2); and Slavia Prague vs. Lille (0–2).
After those matches, representatives from 36 teams travel to Monaco for the draw for the league phase. The teams will be divided into four pots of nine teams each based on their UEFA club coefficient, with the defending champions, Real Madrid, as the No. 1 seed in pot 1.
Teams cannot face opponents from their own country and can only be drawn against two squads from the same nation.
