Champions League
This Champions League tiebreaker will play crucial role in deciding round-of-16 qualifiers
The UCL fates of Real Madrid, Manchester City, PSG and Milan could come down to how UEFA separate teams level on points.

There are few games left to play in the league phase of the 2024/25 Champions League, which means we already know some of the teams directly through to the round of 16. Others will need a playoff to qualify, while a few clubs have already been eliminated.
2024/25 Champions League league phase: format and who qualifies
Once each team has played eight games in the league phase, the top eight teams will qualify automatically for the first knockout round, which is the last 16.
The other eight qualifiers will be decided in the knockout phase playoff round. Teams that finished ninth to 16th will be seeded for the playoffs, with those ranked 17th to 24th unseeded.
The bottom 12 teams in the league phrase will be eliminated from the competition and, unlike in the previous format, won’t drop down into the Europa League. European soccer will be all over for them until next season at the earliest.
With 36 teams all ranked in the same league, there will inevitably be a number that finish on the same number of points after playing eight games.
What happens if teams finish level on points in the Champions League? Tiebreaker explained
As not every team in the league phase plays against each other, head-to-head record isn’t a factor when it comes to breaking ties. Instead, the first tiebreaker is goal difference (i.e. difference between goals scored and goals conceded).
Article 18 of UEFA Champions League regulations - tiebreakers
- Superior goal difference in the league phase
- Higher number of goals scored in the league phase
- Higher number of away goals scored in the league phase
- Higher number of wins in the league phase
- Higher number of away wins in the league phase
- Higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents
- Superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents
- Higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents
- Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all league phase matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points)
- Higher club coefficient
If teams can still not be separated, which is likely to happen, goals scored is the second tiebreaker, followed by away goals scored. The fourth tiebreaker is number of victories recorded, with away victories fifth.
These factors are used to separate teams who have the same number of points while the league phase is in progress. Should some teams still have identical records before the round has finished, they will then be ranked in alphabetical order.
However, in the unlikely event that clubs are level on all five of those tiebreakers after the completion of the league phase, five more points (6-10 in the table above) are then introduced in the following order: higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents; superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents; higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents, lower disciplinary points total, and UEFA club coefficient.
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