The UEFA Champions League returns this week for its second season in the new 36-team format – but there has been one key rule change since last season.
UEFA hope the tweak will increase fairness in the knockout stages and give teams greater incentive to finish as high as possible in the table.
What is the new Champions League rule?
From this season, the team that finishes higher in the league phase will always get home advantage in the second leg of every knockout round up to and including the semi-finals.
Last year only the eight clubs that qualified directly for the round of 16 were guaranteed that perk. For the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the order of home and away legs was decided by the draw.
The new rule eliminates that element of chance. If you finish higher in the table, you are rewarded with the decisive second leg on home turf.
There is also a chain effect. If a lower-ranked team eliminates a higher-ranked one, they take on that superior seeding for the remainder of the competition.
New Champions League rule change sparked by Arsenal complaint
UEFA introduced the adjustment after Arsenal — who are rated at 7/1 in the latest outright Champions League betting odds — voiced their frustration with last year’s system.
Mikel Arteta’s side finished third in the inaugural league phase but were still forced to play the second leg of their quarter-final away from home against Real Madrid, who ended the league phase in 11th.
Despite this apparent disadvantage, the Gunners prevailed 5-1 on aggregate, but were again forced to play away in the second leg of their semi-final with Paris Saint-Germain, who had finished 15th in the league phase. PSG won 3-1 on aggregate.
Arsenal felt their performances in the league phase had not been fairly rewarded. Their formal complaint led UEFA to reconsider the format and ultimately introduce this new rule.
Mikel Arteta was not happy that Arsenal had to play away from home in last season’s second legs against Real Madrid and PSG
Who will Arsenal play in the Champions League this season?
After kicking off their 2025/26 Champions League campaign away at Athletic Bilbao this week, Arsenal will face Olympiakos, Atletico Madrid, Slavia Prague, Bayern Munich, Club Brugge, Inter Milan and finally Kazakhstani side Kairat Almaty, who beat Celtic in qualifying.
Last season, Arsenal’s league phase fixtures saw them take on Atalanta, PSG, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter, Sporting, Monaco, Dinamo Zagreb and Girona.
Does a team’s final position in the league phase affect their Champions League prize money?
Yes, each place is worth an extra £233,000.
Liverpool received around £8.4m for finishing first last season, while Arsenal earned close to £7.9m for finishing third.
UEFA boosted the Champions League prize pool when the format expanded to 36 clubs, with the overall pot now just over £2bn. Every side that qualifies for the league phase is guaranteed around £15.7m, even if they lose every game.
On top of that, each league-phase win is worth £1.8m and a draw £590,000.
The real financial weight still lies in progression. Teams bank roughly £9.4m for reaching the last 16, £10.7m for making the quarter-finals, £12.9m for the semi-finals, while the winners and runners-up collect £21.5m and £15.9m respectively.
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