Carabao Cup new format explained as organisers make changes

Champions League has changed its traditional group stage, where 32 clubs were divided into eight groups, replacing it with a single 36-team league phase.

In the new format, each team will now play eight times, creating two additional match-days in the first half of the season.

Carabao Cup new format

English clubs competing in Europe get a bye to the third round of the Carabao Cup, but next season’s third round on 17-18 September directly clashes with matchday one of the Champions League.

The third round was already going to be split over two weeks, featuring games on 24-25 September to spread the fixture load and ease congestion. The Europa League‘s new league phase begins on 26 September, clashing with the Carabao Cup third round’s overspill second week.

The Conference League won’t clash then as its league stage isn’t scheduled to begin until 3 October. But it may be necessary to introduce further measures for the Carabao Cup fifth round as there stands to be a fixture clash with matchday six in the Conference League.

A clash between the Carabao Cup and an international competition has already been seen, with Liverpool forced to field an Under-23 squad for a quarter-final tie against Aston Villa in December 2019 at the same time as the first-team was contesting the FIFA Club World Cup.