The Champions League Needs to Change Before It Breaks
The new Champions League format is confusing. Even people who work in football do not fully understand it. More teams. More games. More money. Less meaning. The group stage used to
The new Champions League format is confusing. Even people who work in football do not fully understand it.
More teams. More games. More money. Less meaning. The group stage used to matter. Now it is just a warm up for the knockout rounds.
The old format was not perfect but it was simple. Four teams, six games, top two go through. Everybody understood it. Now we have a league phase where nobody knows who is playing who until the draw happens.
UEFA says it is about giving more teams a chance. It is actually about money. More games means more broadcast revenue. That is the only reason.
The players are suffering. The schedule is packed. Injuries are up. Performance is down. Something has to give.
What would I do? Cut the group stage back to six games. Top two go through. Simple. The best teams will qualify anyway. We do not need 36 teams in a league phase to figure that out.
The new Champions League format is confusing. Even people who work in football do not fully understand it.
More teams. More games. More money. Less meaning. The group stage used to matter. Now it is just a warm up for the knockout rounds.
The old format was not perfect but it was simple. Four teams, six games, top two go through. Everybody understood it. Now we have a league phase where nobody knows who is playing who until the draw happens.
UEFA says it is about giving more teams a chance. It is actually about money. More games means more broadcast revenue. That is the only reason.
The players are suffering. The schedule is packed. Injuries are up. Performance is down. Something has to give.
What would I do? Cut the group stage back to six games. Top two go through. Simple. The best teams will qualify anyway. We do not need 36 teams in a league phase to figure that out.