What has happened since the UEFA Champions League format changed?
OK, so to recap, around this time last year, I reported that there had been a rise in goals since the UEFA Champions League changed format ahead of the 2024/25 season. I’m now back at it to see if goals are still going up.
We’re into the second season of the League Phase format, which for those who don’t know, replaced the old Group Stage format. Previously, teams played six group-stage games, whereas now, teams play eight league-phase games. This means that compared to before, all qualifying teams play a minimum of eight games before the knockout rounds begin.
Essentially, what we concluded around a year ago was that more games meant more goals, which was always going to happen. However, not only were more goals being scored overall since the change, but the average number of goals scored per game went up too, as did the number of games containing three or more goals.
When looking at goals a year ago, it was after two rounds of games. Here are the stats:
Average goals scored after two rounds of UCL League Phase games:
OK, so after two matchdays last season, the goals were up. Was that the case again this season?
The answer is a resounding yes, as we can see below.
After two matchdays, the new format was continuing to deliver more goals, with an average of 3.58 goals scored per League Phase games after two rounds of games. Compared to the 2024/25 season, that’s 0.45 more goals per game, and compared to the 2023/24 season, under the old format, that’s an increase of 0.68 goals per game.
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OK, so what about at the half way stage of the League Phase campaign? Are we seeing more goals than ever before after four rounds of games? Let’s find out.
Average goals scored after four rounds of UCL League Phase games:
Clearly, we are seeing more goals scored. In each season, the number of goals did drop after two rounds of games, but as we can see, the new format clearly leads to more goals than the old format did, while the increase season-on-season has continued this time around, both after two rounds of games and four rounds of games.
Last season, after the first two matchdays, we did see a very slight drop off in goals. Matchdays one and two produced goals totals of 57 and 58, before matchdays three and four produced goals totals of 51 and 55. Has this pattern been repeated this season? Yes, but not immediately. Matchday three produced an all-time league-phase high for total goals, with 71 being scored, but on matchday four, we saw quite a steep drop-off, with only 46 goals scored.
Are there more or less games containing three or more goals this season?
After two rounds of games last season, compared with the previous old-format season, there had been a notable increase in the number of games containing three or more goals.
Games containing more than three goals after two rounds of games:
This season, the increase continued, and if anything, it’s even more notable:
As the stats above show, this year, the number of games containing three or more goals (after two rounds of games) has increased again. What about after four games?
Games containing more than three goals after four rounds of games:
This season, after four rounds of games, we are seeing more games with three or more goals scored than ever before. If you love to see the goals fly in, as most fans do, this should be music to your ears.
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