Since it was first contested in 1992, Champions League has become one of the most prestigious tournaments in world football. The competition is open to national league champions (and for some nations, one or more runners-up) from the top five European leagues. It is also the most lucrative club competition and has become one of the most watched sporting events in the world, with the final drawing an average audience of 360 million television viewers.
This season’s Champions League starts with a revamped structure. Gone are the eight groups of four teams that have been used for 21 years. Instead, all 36 clubs will compete in a new league phase that sees each team play eight matches — six at home and two away — over January and February. The teams that finish in the top eight will qualify for the knockout phase, while those finishing ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged play-off to join them.
We’ve compiled a table to show how the new system could work out, but keep in mind that this is not how the actual results will look, as there are a lot of variables at play. Here, we have included the total points accumulated by every club in each of the eight matches that they play through to the end of the competition.
The current Champions League trophy is 74 cm (29 in) tall, made of silver and weighing 11 kg (24.3 lb). It was designed by Jurg Stadelmann, a jeweller from Bern, Switzerland, and cost 10,000 Swiss francs to produce.
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