The change in the format of the champions league this season, has provided an opportunity for more teams to shine and show their abilities, to be honest, from the beginning I saw if indeed the change in the format of the champions league was planned to tackle the big teams that often dominate so far, And we can see how many big teams currently have to face each other which ultimately reduces their chances of qualifying for the next round, in contrast to weak teams that actually benefit from the format change, so it is not surprising that previously Manchester City, Madrid, Munich and several other teams rejected and criticised the format change.
To be honest, I saw the new format as an advantage for big teams, because in my opinion, the more games they had, the more chances they had to secure a playoff spot. But in practice, it works differently, someone has a crisis, someone has a bad draw, and thus even strong teams can find themselves in a very bad position, when a few games before the end they have not yet secured a playoff spot.
The new format only favored Liverpool, because they are the first on thr table and won their matches. A lot of factors also affected the big clubs including the new format. This season big clubs were hit with injuries and it swept them of their feet because they weren't prepared for it. Clubs that we didn't expected are the ones surprising us.