• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Two Legged Semi Finals To Be Scrapped As Part Of Major Champions League Revamp

Home> Football

Updated 20:51 27 Apr 2022 GMT+1Published 20:04 27 Apr 2022 GMT+1

Two Legged Semi Finals To Be Scrapped As Part Of Major Champions League Revamp

Champions League semi-finals look set to be scrapped going forward under the new format.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Semi finals in the Champions League are set to become one-legged as part of the competition's revamp.

Since the European Cup was introduced way back in the 1955/56 season, when Real Madrid won the first of 13 titles, its format has included semi-finals played over two legs.

Ten years later and UEFA brought in the away goals ruling, which has since been abolished this term.

But going forward, according to Martin Ziegler from The Times, Champions League semi-finals will be a one-off fixture.

Advert

No official stance from UEFA has been made as of yet but president Aleksander Ceferin has endorsed the idea in the past and the European Club Association (ECA) are said to be leaning towards giving their seal of approval.

Image: PA
Image: PA

The European Leagues organisation would need to give the green light to the change, which would include a “week of football” whereby semi-finals and the final are played in one city in the same week.

The feeling is that extra excitement and drama would be added with the one-legged affairs, before the final takes place shortly after.

Advert

Image: PA
Image: PA

The Nations League international tournament has seen semi-finals and finals played in the same country over a five-day period.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the quarter finals onwards were played in Lisbon in August and Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG's president and the chairman of the ECA, went on record to say players from his club enjoyed the set-up.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Advert

The proposal for a single city to host the three fixtures would be challenging because of the amount of fans descending and is likely only be achievable with leading locations like London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Istanbul and Rome to name a few.

Image: PA
Image: PA

The axing of two-legged semis would come into play for the 2024/25 season, by which point there will be an all-new format.

Instead of the traditional eight groups, there will be one 36-team league - with the top eight teams reaching the next round.

Advert

A new round of play-offs will decide the other teams, with clubs placed from ninth to 16th facing a side placed from 17th to 24th in a two-legged tie.

Every team will play a minimum of 10 games, half home and half away in the league format.

Featured Image Credit: Image: PA

Topics: Champions League, UEFA

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

X

@joshlawless_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
4 hours ago
5 hours ago
  • Getty
    an hour ago

    Jamie Vardy 'Makes' Controversial Decision Prior to Cremonese Debut

    Jamie Vardy made his Serie A debut with Cremonense on Monday night, beginning his adventure in Italy.

    Football
  • Getty
    4 hours ago

    Barcelona Hit With Huge Blow After UEFA U-Turn Ahead of Newcastle Clash

    Barcelona are set to take on Newcastle United on Thursday night.

    Football
  • Getty
    4 hours ago

    Alan Shearer to Miss Newcastle vs Barcelona for 'Nightmare' Reason

    Newcastle United return to the Champions League with a league phase game against Barcelona on Thursday

    Football
  • Getty
    5 hours ago

    Amorim Handed Shock Man Utd Escape Route After City Defeat

    Ruben Amorim is under increasing pressure at Manchester United.

    Football
  • UEFA Issue Chelsea Statement After Champions League Ban Threat
  • UEFA Announce Major Champions League Rule Change Days Before First Matches
  • Arsenal Impacted by Two Champions League Rule Changes Ahead of Bilbao Clash
  • Arsenal accused of breaking UEFA rule for PSG clash as major doubts raised over Champions League semi-final