Italian media Calcio e Finanza reported that the order of home and away games in the knockout stage of the three European competitions in the new season will be determined by the league stage ranking.

Although the top 16 matches last season were determined based on the ranking of the first stage (i.e. the league stage), the home and away order of subsequent rounds (quarter finals and semi-finals) was still decided by draws, and the total ranking after 8 rounds of the league stage was not referenced (8 rounds of the UEFA Cup and the Champions League, and UEFA United maintained 6 rounds).

But starting from the 2025-26 season, the final ranking of the league stage will be more decisive. According to UEFA's new regulations, the seeds ranked 1-4 will play at home in the second leg of the quarter-finals, while the top two teams will also enjoy a home advantage in the second leg of the semi-finals. This means that the new season of the Champions League will no longer be the case where Inter Milan ranked lower than Barcelona in the league last season, but was at home in the second leg of the semi-finals. Another key point of the new rules is that if the seed team is eliminated early, the club that eliminates the team will inherit its seed seat on the schedule. Taking the 2024-25 season as an example, after Paris Saint-Germain eliminated Liverpool in the round of 16, it will automatically win the No. 1 seed seat of the original Reds.