Following UEFA's announcement of a revamped Champions League format, it seems eerily similar to the very competition they were against, the European Super League (ESL).
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On Monday afternoon, European football's governing body released a statement and video explaining the new changes that would be happening to its flagship club competition come the 2024/25 season.
Under their new set-up, sides will contest eight matches in the new league phase, moving away from the group stage. Teams will no longer play three opponents twice, home and away, but will instead contest fixtures against eight different sides, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away.
To establish the eight different opponents, the teams will initially be ranked in four seeding pots. Each team will then be drawn to play two opponents from each of these pots, playing one match against a team from each pot at home, and one away.
The top eight sides in this 36-team league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to secure their path to the first knockout phase. Teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated, with no access to the UEFA Europa League.
Now, funnily enough, UEFA only conceptualised this version of the Champions League after a number of elite European clubs attempted to secede from the tournament and form a competition of their own, the ESL. Since the dawn of the 21st century, there had been talks of the formation of such a contest, but it was only in 2021 when it looked as though it could become a real possibility, with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus all formally announcing that they would be joining it.
Public criticism ultimately led to many clubs officially withdrawing their participation, but the ordeal seemingly spooked UEFA into realising that they needed to change their top club spectacle if they wanted to appease the likes of the aforementioned.
During the pandemic, when the ESL was originally mooted, it stated that the competition would constitute of "clubs participating in two groups of 10, playing home and away fixtures, with the top three in each group automatically qualifying for the quarter-finals", as per The Guardian.
"Teams finishing fourth and fifth will then compete in a two-legged play-off for the remaining quarter-final positions. A two-leg knockout format will be used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be staged as a single fixture at a neutral venue. As soon as practicable after the start of the men's competition, a corresponding women's league will also be launched, helping to advance and develop the women's game."
Bernd Reichart, chief executive of ESL organisers A22, has since announced a revised version of the tournament in December 2023, but it certainly appears as if the skeleton of the new Champions League has been adopted from the very competition UEFA were so vehemently opposed to.
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It's ironic but also not that surprising. The whole reason why it would be catastrophic for UEFA to have the continents biggest teams form their own league is that European football's governing body would not be able to market their most consistent and profitable stream of revenue as far as competitions are concerned, and that is the Champions League.
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