New Champions League format for 2024?

Sassy Colin

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wtf? :houllier:

UEFA have planned a new Champions League format which is set to be introduced in 2024 and has been opposed by several European clubs.

There are nine Spanish clubs in the European Club Association (ECA) and of those, seven - Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Athletic Club, Villarreal, Real Sociedad and Malaga - are against the proposal, while Real Madrid and Barcelona are in favour.

As El Partidazo de COPE and Radio MARCA have learned, the new tournament will consist of 32 teams, with eight of them being relegated to the Europa League for the following season.

The format will be the following:

- The first phase will consist of 32 teams divided into four groups of eight teams each (14 matchdays).

- The first four teams of each group will qualify to the round of 16.

- The bottom team of each group will be relegated to the Europa League for the following season.

- The sixth and seventh of each group will play a play-out to avoid relegation to the Europa League for the next campaign.

The new plan will be presented at a meeting in August in Monaco, while LaLiga Santander and the Premier League are strongly opposed to it.
https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2019/06/06/5cf93bf4268e3e2e478b4567.html
 

RedSky

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May as well just give the elite clubs an automatic slot as I doubt any of them will feck up a 14 match group. The beauty of the current format is that a club can have 2 bad games and be in real trouble of not qualifying. I can see why Barcelona and Madrid are in favour of this.

The positive is it would allow supporters to travel to and watch different clubs a season. But I imagine there will be far less shocks and the beauty of the Champions League is the knockout stages and they've robbed us of one round of that. Don't think I like the system personally.
 

MVBDX

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Longer group stages would be terrible.
 

UweBein

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The old European Cup was the best anyway. Anything that includes group stages is just a worse version of that original format.

This proposal as well as the current format - and this is of course no news - is only about money.
 

redshaw

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Reading through that gave me visions of the Europa League being molten lava or a swamp you don't want slip into.

The Uefa cup and Cup Winners cup still sound more prestigious
 

Lennon7

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Absolutely ridiculous... nothing wrong with the current qualification system.
 

do.ob

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I think there are less than 10 clubs who are in favour of this. Iirc the PL spoke out against it unanimously, in Germany it's everyone but Bayern, in Spain everyone but Real and Barca.
 

rcoobc

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Need like cream white text these days
or make it really small
 

Hulksmash

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Who invented this idea, it's just a way to stop premier league. What about smaller clubs? They will be never for that idea
 

Schneckerl

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So the same number of teams qualify from the group stage, they just make it longer.
Really pointless. CL really starts at the KO stage
 

Big Ben Foster

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Sounds like a stepping stone to an eventual super league. Hope it doesn't happen, although IMO it's only a matter of time. The big clubs are too rich and powerful, and money talks.
 

Paul_Scholes18

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It would make the group stage too boring. A lot of the time half the teams in each group will have little to play for in the last games. 14 games games is a lot.

I think the format is pretty good as it is. Could be better, but I think 16 or 64 teams would make it too little or too big. It does reward the big teams with a bit too much money though and
I wish they could spread the money out more from it with better tv deals and financial reward.

Also the extra 8 games would not work for most leagues. German teams could manage I guess having only 34 games, but this change would need other leagues to go down to 18 or 16 teams.
 

Paul_Scholes18

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Sounds like a stepping stone to an eventual super league. Hope it doesn't happen, although IMO it's only a matter of time. The big clubs are too rich and powerful, and money talks.
Think it would potentially kill a lot of deeper interest and make the sport too shallow. I guess we have already moved down that path though. Although premier league has really showed the way with the tv deals. Yes some giants are still big, but the smaller clubs do have financial muscles to resist bigger clubs and also spend big now. If the gap gets too big people will stop following it.
 

rcoobc

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Currently, the group stage is boring

They've found a way to make it even more boring.

Promotion and relegation in Europe would be poo
 

P-Nut

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The only possible reason for having a longer group stage is to allow the bigger teams an easier route to the knockouts
 

rcoobc

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The only possible reason for having a longer group stage is to allow the bigger teams an easier route to the knockouts
If they only made one change to the champions league and made it so that, as well as playing the normal 6 group games, teams played two games against teams from other groups but in the same pot - that could benefit everyone.

So have Pot 1 vs Pot 1 matches, Pot 2 vs Pot 2 matches etc

NFL style

Makes it harder for the big teams to qualify, but also more interesting matches
 

andyox

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The only possible reason for having a longer group stage is to allow the bigger teams an easier route to the knockouts
And the additional guaranteed revenue from 8 more group games.
 

paulscholes18

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So you could win the league but not make the champions league the season after, sounds stupid to me
 

CognitiveNeuro

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They should just bring back the old format...good old fashioned knockout rounds from the start.
 

VeevaVee

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Rubbish. CL nights have a special feeling to them, even in the group stages, and it'd take that away. It'd certainly make going to group stage games less attractive. Just another reason not to go and watch football in England.
All these changes for the worse and sugar daddies in football. Feels like there'll be a football revolution in our lifetime.
 

adexkola

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Bring back Cup Winners Cup. Restricted to domestic cup champions, finalists, or 4th placed teams in league
Kick non-champions out of Champions League. Figure out best 32 champions in Europe in pre-qualification and have the CL go from there
Restrict Europa League to 2nd and 3rd place teams in each league at the max
Make Europa League and CWC purely knockout competitions. Unseeded. Win over 2 legs or go home. No extra time, straight to penalties after 90 mins
Distribute TV money more equitably across leagues and teams in each league

Someone identify the multiverse where that version is in place
 

roonster09

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Bring back Cup Winners Cup. Restricted to domestic cup champions, finalists, or 4th placed teams in league
Kick non-champions out of Champions League. Figure out best 32 champions in Europe in pre-qualification and have the CL go from there
Restrict Europa League to 2nd and 3rd place teams in each league at the max
Make Europa League and CWC purely knockout competitions. Unseeded. Win over 2 legs or go home. No extra time, straight to penalties after 90 mins
Distribute TV money more equitably across leagues and teams in each league

Someone identify the multiverse where that version is in place
Hopefully that will never happen, will be such a poor situation to be in for a ManUtd fan. Champions only champions league before and after we dominated the league.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Sounds horrific.

I really hate UEFA and FIFA.

Trying to kill the purity of the sport for more $$$.

Feck them.
 

Cloud7

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They should just bring back the old format...good old fashioned knockout rounds from the start.
This would be amazing to be honest. Every game would be high intensity from the beginning of the tournament to the end.
 

Toad

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Group stage is shit enough as it. Teams will just wrap it up early in the group and that will be that.