Champions League rule changes over the years: away goals, VAR, squads and subs
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The Champions League you watch today is not the same competition your parents watched. Formats, tiebreakers and squad rules have all changed, some more than once. Knowing the history helps explain old results and why certain moments still cause arguments.
From European Cup to Champions League
The competition began in the 1950s as the European Champion Clubs' Cup, usually called the European Cup, and for decades it was a straight knockout for league champions. It was rebranded as the UEFA Champions League in the early 1990s, introducing a group stage. Later in that decade, the runners-up of the strongest leagues were admitted as well, and the competition gradually became open to several clubs from the biggest countries.
Away goals: introduced in 1965, abolished in 2021
For more than half a century, if two-legged ties finished level on aggregate, the team that scored more goals away from home went through. UEFA abolished the away-goals rule in all its club competitions from the 2021/22 season.
- Its reasoning was that home advantage had shrunk because of better pitches, standardised stadiums and technology such as goal-line technology and VAR.
- The old rule had also discouraged home sides from attacking in first legs, for fear of conceding away goals.
- Now a level aggregate goes to extra time and then penalties, regardless of who scored where.
Old classics decided on away goals still come up in debates, so it helps to remember the rule existed.
VAR arrives
Video assistant referees were introduced to the Champions League from the round of 16 in the 2018/19 season, brought forward from the original plan of starting the following year. Its use has since been extended, including to all qualifying rounds. VAR checks goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity, with on-field reviews at a pitch-side monitor.
Substitutions
For most of the competition's history, teams could make three substitutions. During the pandemic, football's lawmakers allowed five as a temporary measure, and it later became permanent. In UEFA's club competitions:
- Five substitutions are allowed in normal time, made in no more than three stoppages, with changes at half-time not counting towards that.
- An extra substitution is allowed in extra time.
Squad lists
Clubs must register players for UEFA matches on two lists:
- List A has a maximum of 25 players, including at least two goalkeepers, with eight places reserved for locally trained players, of whom no more than four may be trained at other clubs in the same country. If a club has fewer locally trained players, its maximum shrinks.
- List B is for younger players who have been at the club for a set period, with no limit on numbers.
Clubs may register a small number of new players before the knockout rounds. The birth-date cut-off for List B changes each season.
The 2024/25 format change
The biggest recent change replaced the 32-club group stage with a 36-club league phase, in which each club plays eight different opponents. Clubs in places 9 to 24 enter a knockout play-off, and clubs finishing outside the top 24 are eliminated with no drop into the Europa League, which used to happen to third-placed teams in the groups.
Smaller changes worth knowing
- The final has been a single match at a neutral venue for decades, unlike some early finals that needed replays.
- Golden and silver goals were briefly used in European football in extra time before being dropped.
Regulations are updated every season, so check UEFA's current documents before relying on any detail. Which rule change do you think made the biggest difference? Share your view in the comments.