how many games in champions league group stage

Each team played 6 games in the traditional Champions League group stage, but from the 2024/25 season onward the old “group stage” has been replaced by a new league-style phase where each team now plays 8 games instead.

Quick Scoop

Old format (until 2023/24)

• 32 teams were split into 8 groups of 4.

• Each team played every other team in its group twice (home and away), so 6 group-stage games per club.

• Top 2 in each group reached the knockouts, third dropped to the Europa League, fourth was eliminated.

So if someone asks “how many games in the Champions League group stage?” in the classic sense , the answer is: 6 per team.

New format (from 2024/25 on)

• The classic group stage has been scrapped and replaced with a single 36‑team league phase.

• Each club now faces 8 different opponents (4 at home, 4 away), so 8 league-phase games per team instead of 6.

• The top 8 go straight to the round of 16; teams placed 9–24 go into play‑offs, while 25–36 are eliminated.

Why it feels like a trending topic

• Fans and forums are actively debating whether the extra two matches (from 6 to 8) mean more drama or just more congestion in an already packed calendar.

• A lot of people still casually say “group stage,” but UEFA now officially calls it the league phase , which can cause confusion when comparing older seasons to the newest ones.

TL;DR:

• Classic UCL group stage: 6 games per team (up to 2023/24).

• New UCL league phase (ex‑group stage): 8 games per team (from 2024/25).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.