Champions League Changes Set to be Confirmed from 2024

[Stan]

2 minutes ago, Chaaay AFC said:

I hope big changes do happen but I don't believe they will. 

Likewise. The big six owners have showed their hands too early and paid for it. But in doing so, they've quite clearly also shown they will just jump at the next opportunity under the facade of 'we're doing this for the fans, and to make sure the club remains competitive...'

[Honey Honey]

Hope the ESL clubs suffer incredible fatigue in the new Champions League. Serve them right for trying to create a 5 a side, 6 minute halves league without us.

[Harry]

These changes seem to genuinely suck. The ESL sucked worse. And the status quo UCL pretty shitty too.

Can we envisage something that doesn't suck? Can we crowd source ideas that would actually improve the Champions league and Europa or European football more generally?

[Cicero]

Oh what the fuck? It's just the ESL then? League format? 

[ScoRoss]

51 minutes ago, Harry said:

These changes seem to genuinely suck. The ESL sucked worse. And the status quo UCL pretty shitty too.

Can we envisage something that doesn't suck? Can we crowd source ideas that would actually improve the Champions league and Europa or European football more generally?

The introduction of the group stages to the UEFA Cup was the downfall of it. At the very least, having a different format to the Champions League made it something to watch. Having a knockout competition from the off was one of the best parts of it, and didn't just make it a lesser version.

Bring that back and then we can start having some serious changes that people, outside of boardrooms, would like to see.

[Danny]

In terms of entertainment value it should be knock out competition all the way, but this format essentially gives the biggest clubs the opportunity to overcome an unexpected loss and still finish half going into the knock out stages. The brilliance of European football is seeing sides like Celtic, Ajax, PSV, Benfica, Porto, Lyon put up real fights and going on to win silverware as well as the richer clubs.

These changes will just continue to strengthen the monopoly, centralising the best talents to a small number of clubs, ensuring those clubs receive more money. BTEC Super League and it needs scrapping.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Football fans united to protest the ESL...

... and I think these CL changes prove that fans should remain united and keep the protest up for these changes that essentially just create an ESL-lite, particularly granting two extra places to clubs based on their UEFA coefficient. Last season, this would have put Spurs and Arsenal in the CL - in the future it would likely mean either 6 English clubs in the CL or 5 English clubs/5 Spanish clubs.

Sunday was a black day in football, but we also saw football fans around Europe and around the world stand together in the fight to save the game's soul. The fight is not over merely because the greed of a few have suspended their plans, while UEFA bends over backwards to keep the cash cows happy.

Seeing the greedy dickheads suspend their ESL plans was not winning the war. It was winning one battle in the war.

[Dan+]

It's no surprise that they've pushed this through still. Whilst I think UEFA are probably the lesser of two evils, people shouldn't lose sight of the fact they're still an evil who have continuously shown themselves to be hardly a net positive on the game themselves. The brass neck on them, Sky and whoever. Whilst I think football did need to unite here, and I'm glad it did, and glad it won this battle, the war is still largely getting away from us and this further cements that. UEFA complaining about the ESL is akin to a Chelsea fan moaning about Man City's takeover and spending. The Milan ultras statements were spot on - these aren't new things, this didn't just pop up overnight, this has been brewing for years and it's largely because of a culture that people like UEFA have helped to manifest.

There is a long way to go. My fear now is that the twelve go unpunished and it's brushed under the carpet, a bit like project big picture successfully was.

[Dan+]

12 hours ago, Danny said:

In terms of entertainment value it should be knock out competition all the way, but this format essentially gives the biggest clubs the opportunity to overcome an unexpected loss and still finish half going into the knock out stages. The brilliance of European football is seeing sides like Celtic, Ajax, PSV, Benfica, Porto, Lyon put up real fights and going on to win silverware as well as the richer clubs.

These changes will just continue to strengthen the monopoly, centralising the best talents to a small number of clubs, ensuring those clubs receive more money. BTEC Super League and it needs scrapping.

The only thing I'll say for group stages is it's quite good for the fans in that you can get it planned in advance rather than the quick turnarounds of knockout football - though I do tend to agree otherwise and find knockouts far more entertaining.

[ScoRoss]

 

[6666]

The current Champions League format is fine. Better than a straight knockout format from start to finish and better than whatever this is.

[Stan]

Good to see players speak out about it. 

[Happy Blue]

The CL should be a league with the champions of each country with no final, whoever is top after all the games is the real champions, the other cup should be the same but for the runners up!  ..if they want a big show piece final have both winners play for a super cup at the end of the season! 

Edited April 22, 2021 by Happy Blue

[Honey Honey]

If you think about it the new format is anti-ESL in that it will bring more revenue to other clubs around Europe who now get 2-4 more games. Whilst the ESL lot get tired and given that they say this is such a big thing they will start losing more domestically right?

I'm in.

[RandoEFC+]

Not really arsed either way about this as long as we remember it when the teams who have signed up for it start crying about the League Cup being scrapped because they have too many games.

[Harry]

On 22/04/2021 at 11:16, Dan said:

It's no surprise that they've pushed this through still. Whilst I think UEFA are probably the lesser of two evils, people shouldn't lose sight of the fact they're still an evil who have continuously shown themselves to be hardly a net positive on the game themselves. The brass neck on them, Sky and whoever. Whilst I think football did need to unite here, and I'm glad it did, and glad it won this battle, the war is still largely getting away from us and this further cements that. UEFA complaining about the ESL is akin to a Chelsea fan moaning about Man City's takeover and spending. The Milan ultras statements were spot on - these aren't new things, this didn't just pop up overnight, this has been brewing for years and it's largely because of a culture that people like UEFA have helped to manifest.

There is a long way to go. My fear now is that the twelve go unpunished and it's brushed under the carpet, a bit like project big picture successfully was.

I've been wrestling in my head with how you fix football, not only in terms of how you'd rejig the CL but how do you reduce the number of games where the outcome is obvious, deliver an outcome where its feasible for Ajax, or Porto or Celtic or whoever to genuinely be capable of winning the ultimate honour, and where more teams in each country can win their highest prizes.

Can't get past the big ass rich clubs being too powerful and making it impossible.

 

[Harry]

1 hour ago, SkyBruce Championship said:

If you think about it the new format is anti-ESL in that it will bring more revenue to other clubs around Europe who now get 2-4 more games. Whilst the ESL lot get tired and given that they say this is such a big thing they will start losing more domestically right?

I'm in.

I can see that angle. The more dead rubber fixtures there are, the more is an indication that a relative minnow team gets a big pay day playing a home game against a European giant.

 

[Honey Honey]

2 hours ago, Harry said:

I can see that angle. The more dead rubber fixtures there are, the more is an indication that a relative minnow team gets a big pay day playing a home game against a European giant.

 

This format is meant to reduce dead rubber fixtures. We'll have to see how it turns out but UEFA's argument is that league positions will change so much and so easily right up to the end that the games will be more interesting. 

Would like to see a simulation of that.

 

 

[LFCMike]

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Does anyone consult the players at all with these decisions? We're seeing lots of injuries just from a compressed footballing schedule due to the pandemic. Now they want to increase the number of games top players play?

Do they just want to shorten the careers of top players, so that new top players can come through? Because you'd think with the amount of money that Messi and Ronaldo have spun out of long and legendary careers, they'd want top players to be able to perform as long as possible - it's easier to market people to watching established superstars.

Seems like a pretty shortsighted way of trying to take advantage of the fact that the "newer" fan greedy owners prefer to go after prefer to support players rather than clubs. You'd think the world class players are their most valuable assets and they'd want to keep the established world class talents as healthy and available as possible to keep spinning that money for them.

But of course, I know from these owners perspectives... no they didn't consult the players, why would they? Farmers don't consult cattle before they decide what to do with them - and that's how these dickheads view the players that make them so much money.

[UNIQUE]

UEFA have no shame. 

[ScoRoss]

On 22/04/2021 at 19:56, 6666 said:

The current Champions League format is fine. Better than a straight knockout format from start to finish and better than whatever this is.

I think the format is fine, but the qualification method is ridiculous. Having 14 non Champions automatically qualify, just because of the league they play in, is farcical. 

The Champions League is shutting off to the other leagues in Europe and has bent over for the big leagues, only for the club's to decide even that wasn't enough. 

Instead of opening up to these leagues and solving the 'Ajax problem' that way, they just add them on at the bottom and couldn't possibly think that perhaps Ajax might be more worthy than the fourth best team in England / Spain / Italy or Germany.

The irony of these teams in these leagues wearing the 'Earn It' t-shirts has obviously been lost on then.

[6666]

27 minutes ago, ScoRoss said:

I think the format is fine, but the qualification method is ridiculous. Having 14 non Champions automatically qualify, just because of the league they play in, is farcical. 

The Champions League is shutting off to the other leagues in Europe and has bent over for the big leagues, only for the club's to decide even that wasn't enough. 

Instead of opening up to these leagues and solving the 'Ajax problem' that way, they just add them on at the bottom and couldn't possibly think that perhaps Ajax might be more worthy than the fourth best team in England / Spain / Italy or Germany.

The irony of these teams in these leagues wearing the 'Earn It' t-shirts has obviously been lost on then.

They want to get the balance right between having champions and having the best teams because being a champion of certain leagues doesn't mean much. Performances of clubs in Europe also decides how many spots their league gets. The system worked fine in my opinion.

[UNIQUE]

UEFA are just as greedy if not more so than the owners of the clubs that wanted the ESL. by adding more teams and more games it makes them more money. but some how people dont care that UEFA rinse the cash. 

[LFCMike]

7 hours ago, UNIQUE said:

UEFA are just as greedy if not more so than the owners of the clubs that wanted the ESL. by adding more teams and more games it makes them more money. but some how people dont care that UEFA rinse the cash. 

No one has come out in support of these new Champions League format plans