New-look Champions League brings more goals per game and more one-sided wins

By: James Ellingworth, The Associated Press Posted: 1:06 AM CST Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025

After a frantic last round of action Wednesday, the inaugural 36-team league phase in Champions League history is over.

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After a frantic last round of action Wednesday, the inaugural 36-team league phase in Champions League history is over.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/01/2025 (614 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a frantic last round of action Wednesday, the inaugural 36-team league phase in Champions League history is over.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers that tell the story of how the first season in the new-look format has gone:

144

Brest's Edimilson Fernandes attempts a goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Brest and Real Madrid at Roudourou stadium in Guingamp, France, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

The number of games in the 36-team league phase, up from 96 last year in the old 32-team group format.

3.27

Goals per game in the new format, up from 3.09 per game in last season’s group stage.

Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski and Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy are joint top scorers with nine goals each.

The number of goals scored by Barcelona, six more than any other team in the league phase. Manchester City led the way with last season with 28 goals in its entire Champions League campaign, including knockout games.

Liverpool’s winning streak stopped at seven games with a 3-2 loss at PSV Eindhoven. That loss meant there were no unbeaten teams in the league phase. Six teams qualified unbeaten from their groups last season.

The number of games won by a margin of four goals or more. Bayern Munich’s 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb on the opening night set the tone as one-sided games were more common. Last year only four group games were won by four goals or more. Having goal difference as the primary tiebreaker — unlike last year — gave stronger teams an incentive to run up the score.

The number of teams from eastern Europe that reached the knockout rounds, despite the expanded format. Clubs from Croatia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine all finished outside the top 24. Zagreb was closest in 25th but missed out on goal difference despite upsetting AC Milan 2-1. No eastern European team has played a Champions League knockout game since Shakhtar Donetsk in 2017-18.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer