Champions League: UEFA changes the rules again | OneFootball

Ousmane Dembélé

On Wednesday, July 9, 2025, UEFA once again changed its rules for the upcoming Champions League season.

Last year, a new format was introduced and generally well received, but UEFA has just decided to make another adjustment to its regulations. During the past Champions League season, the order of home and away legs from the round of 16 onward was determined by a completely random draw. That will no longer be the case next season.

In fact, the advantage for teams finishing in the top 8—who already skip the playoff round, unlike teams that finish between 9th and 24th in the League phase—will become even more significant. Top 8 teams will host the second leg in the round of 16, top 4 teams will host in the quarter-finals, and in the semi-finals, it’s the top two seeds who get the home advantage.

This also means that if a team knocks out one of the top two from the League phase, they will host the return leg each time until the final. This rule change also applies to the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.