Champions League Group Stage Format

Since its inception in 1992/93, the Champions League has continued to evolve, maintaining a mixture of round-robin group matches as well as its traditional knock-out format. The current format was introduced in 2003/04. After three qualifying rounds, 32 teams contest the group stage, divided into eight groups of four. The group winners and runners-up advance to the knock-out stage, the eight third-placed teams move into the UEFA Cup third round, and the eight fourth-placed teams are eliminated.

A draw determines who each of the 16 clubs will play in the first knock-out stage, with ties decided over two matches on a home and away basis. The club that scores the greater aggregate of goals advances, or in the event of both teams scoring the same number of goals, the team which scores more away goals.

The European Champion Clubs' Cup was a purely knockout competition until the format was changed in 1992/93 with the inception of the Champions League. That year the competition began with three knockout rounds with the winners advancing to a group stage involving two sets of four clubs playing home and away.