Things certainly are evolving in the world of football. The introduction of VAR is old news and UEFA will be pushing through a whopping 9 rule changes for next season's Champions League.

With the final of this year's tournament coming up next Saturday, you may feel that this post is a little premature. However, one of these new changes will actually be implemented in the final between Liverpool and Tottenham.

Let's take a look at what's to come.

#1 Substitutes

Taking place in this year's final, this rule change will allow teams to name 23 players in their match day squads.

What does this mean? Well, teams will now have 12 substitutes on the bench to choose from instead of the usual 7.

I quite like this change because it will allow younger players to be a part of the match day experience more easily. It will also allow managers to fill their benches with a range of different skill sets.

#2 Goal Kicks and Free Kicks

As of next season, goal kicks and free kicks won't have to leave the penalty area as they're taken. Opposition players still won't be allowed to venture into the box, but it will allow for shorter passes between the goalkeeper and his defenders. I'm not entirely sure what the benefit of this rule change is and I'm wondering whether it could lead to easier time wasting.

#3 Defensive Walls

This next change will see attacking players banned from positioning themselves within the opposition's defensive wall. Instead, attacking players will need to be at least 1m away from the defensive wall.

This is a pretty big change because a lot of free kicks rely on tactical positioning within the opposition wall. Creating space or tricking defenders into thinking you're going to do something else has been a big thing in free kicks for years.

#4 Departures

As with the Premier League, players who have been subbed with have to leave the pitch at the nearest point.

I see this as a really positive change because it will stop players from taking an ice age to make their way across the pitch in order to waste time.

#5 Penalties

A new requirement is that goalkeepers must have one foot on the goal line at the time a penalty is taken. This is aimed at stopping keepers from coming off the line and making things unfair by narrowing the distance.

Secondly, goalkeepers won't be allowed to touch the posts or crossbar before a penalty is taken.

#6 Drop Ball

As of next season, players will start a drop ball passage of play by being at least 4m away from the ball. The ball can also be dropped directly to a goalkeeper.

#7 Coin Tosses

When a player wins the coin toss before the game, he will now be allowed to decide that his team kicks the match off or will have a choice of which end to play from first.

#8 Handballs

Handball offences are changing slightly next season. If a player scores or assists a goal and the ball has touched his hand in any way then the goal will not stand.

This is good because it gets rid of the ambiguity of whether a handball was deliberate or not. It may be annoying if the ball ricochets into your hand, but at least it will be equal at both ends of the pitch.

#9 Managers

Managers will now be able to receive yellow and red cards from the referee for various offences, just like players. I'm not sure whether there will be further punishment as there is for players when they accumulate too many yellow cards, but this is possibly a way to make managers think twice about how they are behaving.

So, what do you think?

I really like the 23 man squad change, that managers can receive yellow and red cards, and that players must leave the pitch at the nearest exit. Some of the others seem a bit pointless, but I'm sure there is some reasoning to the changes.