It will be interesting because only the best teams will qualify to the round of 16. I like the concept because it gives room for more clubs to participate in the Champions League and who knows if the clubs on the 5th position that qualified to UCL will perform better than the clubs that was in the 3rd and 4th position. Changes is constant in life and here is one.
In the old format, the best team would definitely qualify for the next round. Actually, the way it works is still the same, there is a draw as to who will be their opponent and they also have to get as many points as possible to qualify for the next round.
Here there will also be 8 teams that automatically qualify for the next round, while the other 16 teams must go through the play-off round which is determined based on their ranking in the standings (ranks 9 to 24).
[/quote]Mechanism of new format just difference on group phase only from competition format with two top teams standings qualify to knock out and become league format each teams will play 8 matches. Its not matter for finish on first or second place because the six top position standings automatically qualify to knock out round and the under teams position will get playoff round match from other group.
Seems still confusing with new format but waiting when the match begin and we can see any potential top teams will face each other on group phase?