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New Champions League Format Starts Next Season. How Will it Work?

The Champions League trophy at Wembley. Photograph: Hendrik Deckers/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images
The Champions League trophy at Wembley. Photograph: Hendrik Deckers/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images
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New Champions League Format Starts Next Season. How Will it Work?

The Champions League trophy at Wembley. Photograph: Hendrik Deckers/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images
The Champions League trophy at Wembley. Photograph: Hendrik Deckers/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images

What is the new format?

The group stage is no more. Instead of 32 teams being divided into eight groups, 36 clubs will form a single league. Each side will play eight matches – two more than under the previous concept – against eight different opponents, four at home and four away. The top eight after the first phase will automatically qualify for the last 16, those placed ninth to 24th will face a two-leg playoff to progress, and the bottom eight will be eliminated, sending them out of Europe because they will not drop into the Europa League.

The teams will initially be divided into four pots, based on Uefa seedings. Each participant will play two teams from each pot, one at home and one away. This, in theory, will offer greater possibility for the lowest-ranked teams to reach the knockout stages because they will face two sides of similar quality. Previously they were in a group with three teams from higher pots.

-How will the playoffs and knockout phase work?

The teams finishing ninth to 16th will be seeded in the playoff draw, meaning they will face the teams placed 17th to 24th and will – in principle – get the second leg at home. In the last 16 the teams who automatically qualified will be seeded and will each face a playoff winner.

Knockout games will continue to be played over two legs but for the first time clubs will be able to plot their route to the final once the last-16 draw has been made. The draw from that point would resemble that of a tennis Open with the top two sides from the league phase unable to face one another until the final, although the fine details of how this will be accomplished are still in development. The final will remain the only game not played in midweek.

How long will it take?

More games means the league phase will not be completed before Christmas, forcing each team to play twice in January. The timings of the knockout games remain similar but if a team goes through the playoffs to reach the final, they will end up playing 17 matches. This year’s finalists will have played 13 times each.

Where will Uefa find four more teams?

The two countries whose clubs produced the best collective performance in Uefa tournaments this season – Italy and Germany – will each receive an additional place, described by Uefa as European performance spots. Before this season it was decided that one league phase place would go to the club that finishes third in the country highest on the coefficient list that did not have four guaranteed entrants – the fifth-placed nation, France. The other spot will come via qualifying. Usually four clubs enter through the champions path but instead it will be five.

What’s the knock-on effect in England?

In the Carabao Cup, the Champions League and Europa League clubs will be seeded for the first time to keep them apart to help with fixture congestion. These teams will enter in the third round, to be played over two weeks in September that coincide with designated weeks for European football. The Champions League plays in week one and Europa League in week two of the fortnight assigned for the Carabao Cup third round, meaning if, for example, Manchester City drew Manchester United, finding a date for the fixture would be impossible. Previously, European games were allotted six midweeks between September and December but this will be stretched to 10 midweeks up to January.

There is a potential issue when the Carabao Cup fifth round commences that Chelsea, if they reach that stage, would have a Conference League fixture in the same midweek. The FA Cup has no replays from the first round onwards to free up space in the calendar.

- The Guardian Sport

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Sports

Milano Cortina Finds Fix for Medal Defects, Repairs Offered

Silver medalist Eric Perrot, of France, from left, gold medalist Johan-Olav Botn, of Norway, and bronze medalist Sturla Holm Laegreid, of Norway, pose after the men's 20-kilometer individual biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)
Silver medalist Eric Perrot, of France, from left, gold medalist Johan-Olav Botn, of Norway, and bronze medalist Sturla Holm Laegreid, of Norway, pose after the men's 20-kilometer individual biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)
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Milano Cortina Finds Fix for Medal Defects, Repairs Offered

Silver medalist Eric Perrot, of France, from left, gold medalist Johan-Olav Botn, of Norway, and bronze medalist Sturla Holm Laegreid, of Norway, pose after the men's 20-kilometer individual biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)
Silver medalist Eric Perrot, of France, from left, gold medalist Johan-Olav Botn, of Norway, and bronze medalist Sturla Holm Laegreid, of Norway, pose after the men's 20-kilometer individual biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)

A fix has been found to stop Milano Cortina Olympic medals from coming apart, and athletes will be able to return any damaged ones for repair, local organizers said on Tuesday.

The problems with the cherished medals have been one of the talking points of the opening days of competition at a Games that have otherwise run smoothly.

Local organizers investigated the medals mishaps with the Italian State Mint, which is responsible for producing them.

"A solution was identified and a targeted ‌intervention was ‌implemented," Milano Cortina 2026 Communications Director Luca Casassa ‌said, ⁠adding that ‌only a limited number of medals had suffered defects.

Athletes whose medals were affected could return them "so that they can be promptly repaired," he added.

"Milano Cortina 2026 confirms its commitment to ensuring that the medals, which symbolize the highest achievement in every athlete's career, meet the highest standards of quality and attention to detail."

PROBLEM WITH THE CLASP

Organizers did not specify what the problem was. ⁠However, a source close to the situation had suggested on Monday that the issue may stem ‌from the medal's clasp and ribbon, which is ‍fitted with a breakaway mechanism ‍required by law to avoid the risk of strangulation or other ‍injury.

That tallied with the experience of US Alpine skier Jacqueline Wiles, who won a bronze in the women's team combined on Tuesday and became the latest competitor to suffer a medal mishap.

Wiles said some boisterous celebrations were to blame.

"Some arms were swinging and I was jumping. And it got out of hand a little quickly. But that's OK. They ⁠fixed it already," she said.

A spokesperson for her team said the problem was with the clasp on her medal and she had been given a replacement.

Local organizers were very pleased with operations at the Games, spread over a wide area of northern Italy from Milan to a series of venues in the Alps.

"What we have found in these first four days is really encouraging, the stadiums and the competitions are often sold out, fan zones are full of people who are in a party mood and want to enjoy the Games' atmosphere," Casassa said.

"The feedback that we are getting ‌from the real protagonists, the athletes, at the moment is extremely positive," he added.

Sports

Soccer Returns to Gaza Pitch Scarred by War and Loss

Palestinians play soccer on a pitch, near buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensive, in Gaza City. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians play soccer on a pitch, near buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensive, in Gaza City. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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Soccer Returns to Gaza Pitch Scarred by War and Loss

Palestinians play soccer on a pitch, near buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensive, in Gaza City. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians play soccer on a pitch, near buildings destroyed during the two-year Israeli offensive, in Gaza City. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

On a worn-out five-a-side pitch in a wasteland of ruined buildings and rubble, Jabalia Youth took on Al-Sadaqa in the Gaza Strip's first organized soccer tournament in more than two years.

The match ended in a draw, as did a second fixture featuring Beit Hanoun vs Al-Shujaiya. But the spectators were hardly disappointed, cheering and shaking the chain-link fence next to the Palestine Pitch in the ruins of Gaza City's Tal al-Hawa district.

Boys climbed a broken concrete wall or peered through holes in the ruins to get a look. Someone was banging on a drum, Reuters reported.

Youssef Jendiya, 21, one of the Jabalia Youth players from a part of Gaza largely depopulated and bulldozed by Israeli forces, described his feeling at being back on the pitch: "Confused. Happy, sad, joyful, happy."

"People search for water in the morning: food, bread. Life is a little difficult. But there is a little left of the day, when you can come and play soccer and express some of the joy inside you," he said.

"You come to the stadium missing many of your teammates... killed, injured, or those who travelled for treatment. So the joy is incomplete."

Four months since a ceasefire ended major fighting in Gaza, there has been almost no reconstruction. Israeli forces have ordered all residents out of nearly two-thirds of the strip, jamming more than 2 million people into a sliver of ruins along the coast, most in makeshift tents or damaged buildings.

The former site of Gaza City's 9,000-seat Yarmouk Stadium, which Israeli forces levelled during the war and used as a detention centre, now houses displaced families in white tents, crowded in the brown dirt of what was once the pitch.

For this week's tournament the Football Association managed to clear the rubble from a collapsed wall off a half-sized pitch, put up a fence and sweep the debris off the old artificial turf.

By coming out, the teams were "delivering a message", said Amjad Abu Awda, 31, a player for Beit Hanoun. "That no matter what happened in terms of destruction and genocidal war, we continue with playing, and with life. Life must continue."

Sports

Malinin Made History with His Olympic Backflip, but Some Say the Glory Was Owed to a Black Skater

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Team Event - Men Single Skating - Free Skating - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 08, 2026. Ilia Malinin of United States performs during the men's single free skating. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Team Event - Men Single Skating - Free Skating - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 08, 2026. Ilia Malinin of United States performs during the men's single free skating. (Reuters)
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Malinin Made History with His Olympic Backflip, but Some Say the Glory Was Owed to a Black Skater

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Team Event - Men Single Skating - Free Skating - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 08, 2026. Ilia Malinin of United States performs during the men's single free skating. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Figure Skating - Team Event - Men Single Skating - Free Skating - Milano Ice Skating Arena, Milan, Italy - February 08, 2026. Ilia Malinin of United States performs during the men's single free skating. (Reuters)

Ilia Malinin, the US figure skater, became the first person to legally land a backflip on one skate in the Olympics although one trailblazing woman pulled it off when the move was still forbidden.

The 21-year-old from Virginia delivered a crucial free skate on Sunday night for the winning American team, filled with his trademark quadruple jumps, and punctuated the gold medal-clinching performance with his dramatic backflip.

It’s a move known today as “the Bonaly flip” — named for France’s Surya Bonaly.

Nevertheless, it is Malinin getting showered with praise, prompting many on social media to lament the way his achievement has eclipsed that of Bonaly, who is Black, and wondering if that is due to the color of her skin.

Ari Lu, 49, was among those on TikTok saying the figure skating world owed Bonaly an apology. Where Malinin is praised for his athleticism, Bonaly was judged, she told The Associated Press in a text message on Monday.

“Something a Black person used to be derided for is now celebrated when done by a white person,” said Lu, who is Black herself. She added that critiques of Bonaly at the time appeared related to her appearance rather than her skills.

A ban, and a backflip to end a career

The first person to pull off a backflip at the Olympics was former US champion Terry Kubicka, in 1976, and he landed on two skates. The International Skating Union swiftly banned the backflip, considering it too dangerous.

Over 20 years later, at the 1998 Nagano Games, France’s Surya Bonaly flouted the rules and executed a backflip, this time landing on a single blade — an exclamation point to mark her final performance as a professional figure skater. The crowd cheered, and one television commentator exclaimed, “I think she's done that because she wants to, because it's not allowed. So good on her.”

Bonaly knew the move meant judges would dock her points, but she did it anyway. The moment would cement her legacy as a Black athlete in a sport that historically has lacked diversity.

New rules allow for the backflip's return

For decades, Bonaly’s thrilling move could only be witnessed at exhibitions. That changed two years ago, when the ISU lifted its ban in a bid to make the sport more exciting and popular among younger fans.

Malinin, who is known for his high-flying jumps, soon put the backflip into his choreographed sequences for competitions. And on Sunday it was a part of a gold medal-winning free skate.

Bonaly, for her part, ended her professional career with a 10th place finish. Some argue the punishment of Bonaly back then and praise of Malinin today underscores a double standard that still exists in the figure skating world.

In a telephone interview from Minnesota, Bonaly told the AP on Monday that it was great to see someone do the backflip on Olympic ice, because skating needs to be taken to an upper level.

Regarding the criticism she received during her career, Bonaly said she was “born too early,” arriving on the Olympic scene at a time when people weren't used to seeing something different or didn’t have open minds.

“I broke ice for other skaters,” Bonaly said. “Now everything is different. People welcome anyone as long as they are good and that is what life is about.”

Bonaly's legacy

Before Bonaly there was Mabel Fairbanks, whose Olympic dreams were dashed by racist exclusion from US Figure Skating in the 1930s, and also Debi Thomas, the first African American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics. They and others have paved the road for more representation in the sport.

But there are still few professional Black figure skaters, and none competing for the US this year; popular skater Starr Andrews failed to make the team, finishing seventh at nationals. The team does include five Asian American skaters.

Malinin’s teammate, Amber Glenn, said that while she thinks backflips are fun and is interested in learning how to do one after she’s done competing, the three-time and reigning US champion does not plan to do them any time soon.

“I want to learn one once I’m done competing,” the 26-year-old Glenn said. “But the thought of practicing it on a warmup or in training, it just scares me.”

Both the ISU and the International Olympic Committee have apparently begun to embrace Bonaly's backflip, sometimes posting it to social media in conjunction with Bonaly's own account.

“Backflips on ice? No problem for figure skating icon Surya Bonaly!” says one from last May.

Another from November 2024 says: “Surya Bonaly’s backflip has been a topic of discussion, awe, and admiration for over two decades and continues to inspire young skaters to never give up on their dreams.”