Champions League: New format defines home advantage in final stages

New UEFA Rules for the Champions League Knockout Stages

The UEFA has confirmed the new qualification regulations for the knockout rounds of the Champions League, generating controversy by not granting the home advantage based solely on the position in the league phase. In May, it was announced that the rules would change from this season, determining the venue for the second leg based on merit and not a random draw. It was expected that UEFA would decide which team would play at home in the second leg of the quarter-finals and semi-finals based on the final positions of the league phase of the teams involved in the tie. For example, a team in third position would play the second leg at home against the team in fifteenth position. However, UEFA has decided to prioritize only the teams that finished between positions 1 and 4, or the clubs that eliminate them.

The teams ranked between positions 1 and 4 are guaranteed to play the second leg at home in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, if they reach that stage. The teams ranked in positions 1 and 2 also ensure home advantage priority in the semi-finals.

The UEFA Champions League group stage draw will take place on August 28. Arsenal felt aggrieved at having to play the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain in France last season, despite the Gunners having finished third in the league phase and PSG in fifteenth position. However, this change in regulations would not have benefited Arsenal. Because PSG eliminated Liverpool, ranked in first position, in the round of 16, the Ligue 1 team would “win” Liverpool’s home advantage along with the tie. Thus, PSG, despite being in 15th position, would be guaranteed to play the second leg at home in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. This means that, if the same situation were to occur next season, Arsenal would still have to play the second leg away from home. It reduces the incentive to obtain a higher position among the top eight and gives a team outside the top spots the opportunity to obtain the classification priority. The UEFA’s decision not to reseed each tie solely based on league phase positions creates an imbalance, an additional division in the knockout bracket. This disadvantages teams finishing third or fourth, as it is now impossible for any of them to play at home in the second leg of a semi-final. Only the teams that finish in the following positions can play the second leg at home in the semi-finals: first, second, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, twenty-third, twenty-fourth. This represents a notable difference compared to the way most American sports reorder rankings during their playoffs.

The rule change would have created a different order of semifinals for Barcelona (second) against Inter Milan (fourth). The Serie A team, which reached the final, played at home last season, but with the new system, Barcelona would automatically have priority.

Arsenal had to play the second leg of their quarter-final against Real Madrid (11th) at the Bernabéu last season, and that tie would be reversed this season with the third-placed team having automatic home advantage in the quarter-finals. The rule change also applies to the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Conference League and the UEFA Women’s Champions League.