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The Champions League is changing. Whilst the new format may seem uncomfortable, this is merely the latest iteration.
Since the Champions League was conceived the idea has always been to move away from sporting jeopardy towards more security for bigger teams and bigger players.
But how did it start? What sparked this first change?
James Horncastle writes, Marco Bevilacqua.
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#UCL #ChampionsLeague #UEFA
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those nails are overdue
Now we need a Copa Libertadores of America video adn the biggest club torunament Intercontinental Cup
The fact that it's called Champions league is really ironic, since more teams are non-champions, then champions
So burlesconi was the florentino perez of his time
This seems like a really boring format, also basically eliminates the need for top 4 qualification so the leagues suffer too
This is what I was surprised when playing football manager 2023.😅
Ah yes, along with the next world cup, is also have significant new regulations. (If I'm not wrong) 10 or 12 groups, filled with three countries.
We should do away with financial FairPlay rules which fossilise the position of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus. If they want competition guarantees, then owners of smaller clubs should be able to DESTROY the positions of those 3. I could imagine wealthy clubs in smaller leagues emerging then
they should doing an group stage but with champions and league path with 32 teams
Football isn't a sport anymore, it's a business. The Football we knew and loved growing up has long gone.
Uefa blocked super league not because "belong to the people"thingy. But its because they wont get any money anymore
This is done to ensure that smaller teams, like the Stockholm clubs, Malmö FF, FC Copenhagen etc don't get the chance to mess with the bigger teams ambitions.
Juat look at Arsenal vs Östersund a few years ago. I bet the big wigs at UEFA pulled a BIG sigh of relief when Arsenal managed to go through by the skin of their teeth.
I might be wrong, but when you mention Butrageño, you showed Hugo Sanchez.
Silvio at it again
i dont think that drawing was butragueño
oh well, at least we can celebrate the fact he'll never see it
People here making comments like "save you a click, it's because of money" are a bit strange. I mean, EVERYTHING in football exists because of money, what type of reaction are we supposed to have?
Exactly the sentiments expressed last year by Real's President: that you couldn't run a business without knowing what tournaments you were going to be in and against which opponents next season. Obvious to a capitalist, anathema to any football fan. Football because of the unpredictability and the possibility of upsets. The same people milking the sport as a business and wanting stable outcomes and revenues are exploiting the mythology that was built by shocks and the unexpected.
Silvio Berlusconi was a man ahead of the times
The reason why World Cup is so special is because of the 4 year waiting time. It would become boring if played every year. Same with champions league matches, making big clubs face each more frequently will be more boring and people probably forget that they're even playing. The rarity of things matters
Super League to go with Super Golf League and Super Rugby Club League – I wonder why politics is dictating so much in sports? Could be a massive economic reset in the headlights to come…
So they basically punished smaller clubs and made it easier for bigger clubs because Maradona had a god-given right to go far in the competition rather than earning it fairly? What a joke. This league format will make it even worse for smaller clubs to get far into the competition. It's a re-tooled Super League, and I really hope fans start speaking out against it
So… they hate when smaller sides do well… which is exactly what makes cups good…
The new format does work neatly with just 36 teams. If you split teams into 4 bands, each team 2 teams from each band giving you 8 matches. But each band has 9 teams which does not divide by 2. So when you do the draw for teams in the same band you have to bring in another team from another band. So, expect the next change to be increasing from 36 to 40 to make this simple.
Then with 40 teams you could have 5 bands and 10 matches.
Then finally I can see automatic qualification for Champions League to being scrapped, other than for previous seasons winners. Each country will get a certain number of european spots and the teams EUFA co-efficient determining the actual competition they go into. Again they might put a "fudge" in place so a team winning their domestic league might gets a booster EUFA co-efficient to help them qualify for Champions League for at least the next season.
With this you get a competition where the historical "top" teams qualify consistently for.
I thought this was going to be about how Wolverhampton going around Europe bragging about being the best team in the continent back in the 50s made UEFA create a competition so that whichever is the best team could prove it
Alternative Title: The Day Greed Took Over Football
One thing I "miss" from back in the day is that, once a team was knocked out, their European season was OVER
No relegation to other competitions, no chance to take part in another preliminary round. Even if you were knocked out at the beginning of the season, congratulations, your European season is over, try to qualify for next year's now.
I'm glad that the new format will indeed bring that back
Surely the jeopardy of cup competitions IS the spectacle though?
I like the new format
this doesn't even touch on why the european cup was created though?
As always – Socialism for the rich and let the poor/small clubs fight for the scraps
It wasnt for the show
Because nothing it's funnier in football than a Cup
It was for money, only for money
Money… for what ? What's the purpose of AC Milan to have more money if they gave the same opportunity ti every big clubs in Italy and Europe ?
Maybe because people love money, no matter what.
Money, money, money. Mooooooooney….
Is Berlusconi really a visionary for making it even easier for big clubs to remain big? No doubt he had a good understanding of what would draw crowds (and money), but not totally convinced it was better for football overall. Big teams bowing out early due to bad performances is part of the game
RIP 🪦 Champions League 😢 let’s enjoy the final one to the full
RIP Berlu