What’s the view on this.
Competition extended to 36 teams.
Played in a single league format.
Fixtures will be drawn with each team playing 5 home games and 5 away games.
Presumably these fixtures will be made on the basis of coefficient.
Teams who finish 1st to 8th qualify for the QF
Teams who finish 9-24th qualify for last 16.
Teams who finish 25t-36th exit European football completely.
I don’t have any issue with the new format. In many ways it will help clubs from the smaller leagues like Celtic, Rangers, Porto, Benfica, Ajax, Feyenoord, Olympiakos, Galatasaray, Shakthar etc as they would have a larger amount of prize money available from the extended format.
My contention is the allocation of places:
If the extra 4 places were alloted to league champions from the lesser leagues I’d be all for it.
It currently seems to be the case that the extra 4 spaces will be alloted to
- 4th placed team for the league ranked 5th in the UEFA coefficients
- Domestic champion with the highest coefficient
3&4. Clubs with highest coefficient who did not qualify for CL
For me it just reinforces a closed shop. If UEFA had said that those four extra slots would automatically be awarded to the 4 next best domestic league champions who did not get an automatic slot then I’d be really on board of that.
If the new system had been in place at the start of this season. The teams who would have got the automatic slots would have been:
- Lille
- RB Salzburg
- Arsenal
- Spurs
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It’s going to really boring and allowing 2 teams who didn’t qualify by performance in is shit
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I would like to see the games played on a more regionalised basis. think it would lead to more compelling games.
is coefficient not performance related?
Far too many matches with fuck all meaning
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That’s my main issue. It’s making it a closed shop.
There should be a base for the smaller leagues to build their base on this. What could a club like Slavia Prague do after 3/4 years of successive CL qualification and the money available?
It only serves the teams from the big leagues.
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I presume Liverpool and Spurs would get into the 21/22 competition based on not qualifying and their co-efficent looking at current league tables.
it’s done that since the champions league incarnate with extra places for the higher leagues. the highest performing teams and leagues get rewarded with places. it’s not a closed shop - you do well you get in. unlike the other abomination
It’s like trying to get in a nightclub when you were a kid. The bouncer won’t let you in because he doesn’t know you. You try for weeks and you get the same answer. When he does eventually relent and let you in you better not fuck it up.
Do you mean 1st to 8th qualify for last 16?
It’s a joke. It should be league winners only.
I think a league with the top 20 European sides merits exploration. A Super League maybe.
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Too many group games, the two historic positions is really really shit though.
I actually really like the Champions League as it currently stands.
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And this doubles down on that even further.
Rather than reform for the better, they are reforming for the worst.
Sorry yes.
Last 8 advance to the last 16 and 9-24 will then play off to join them there.
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possibly, I can’t imagine managers are happy about it. an extra 4 games on top of an already busy schedule in the group stages
It’s a farce… this will turn people off soccer, not onto it.
An open draw and two legged ties from the start would be amazing.
Whatever about managers it benefits the owners of the big clubs from the big leagues. They effectively don’t have to worry about dropping CL football.
Spurs and Arsenal are basically guaranteed CL football on the basis of being shit.
If it’s based on coefficient the teams will have ‘Earned it’ - as you wanted.