As the metaphor goes, if you place a frog in a pan of boiling water, it will jump straight out. But if you place a frog in cold water and then gradually heat it up, it will not see the danger and will stay there to die.
UEFA are moving to a new European Super League by stealth, and there doesn't seem to be much of an uproar about it.
Are fans not seeing this gradual change, which started with the group stages?
"Under the new format, teams will play eight matches in the new league phase (former group stage). They will no longer play three opponents twice – home and away – but will instead face fixtures against eight different teams, playing half of those matches at home and half of them away. To determine 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."
This is yet another move towards ensuring that the biggest clubs in Europe have an easy route into the latter stages of the competition and therefore ensures that TV revenues are kept as high as possible.
Those who watch all their football on TV may well like this, but surely the purists amongst us can see the harm it does?
Thoughts?
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/0268-12157d69ce2d-9f011c70f6fa-1000--new-format-for-champions-league-post-2024-everything-you-ne/
New Champions League format (super league)
posted on 5/3/24
CL QF 2014:
Real, Barca, Atletico, Bayern, Dortmund, United, Chelsea, PSG
CL QF 2015:
Real, Barca, Atletico, Bayern, PSG, Monaco, Juventus, Porto
2016
Real, Barca, Atletico, Bayern, Wolfsburg, PSG, City, Benfica
2017:
Real, Barca, Atletico, Bayern, Dortmund, Monaco, Juventus, Leicester
2018:
Real, Barca, Sevilla, Bayern, Juventus, Roma, Liverpool, City
2019:
Barca, Juventus, Porto, Ajax, Liverpool, City, United, Spurs
2020:
Barca, Atletico, Bayern, Leipzig, Lyon, PSG, Atalanta, City
2021:
Real, Bayern, Dortmund, Porto, City, Liverpool, Chelsea, PSG
2022:
Real, Atletico, Villarreal, Bayern, Benfica, Liverpool, City, Chelsea
2023:
Real, Bayern, Milan, Inter, Napoli, City, Chelsea, Benfica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_UEFA_Champions_League_knockout_phase#Round_of_16
I think having a look at the above overall i think this new format will just bring more of the same imo.
Same clubs always there toward the latter stages.
Barca and United might be back in the next few years perhaps.
Over 10 years looking at the above it's been a pretty closed shop, apart from maybe the odd club here and there giving us silly hope they'll actually go very far. Leicester, Lyon, Wolfsburg. But they're never really going to win it are they? Inter last year would have been a nice story.
just my opinion It'll be more of the same just more games to get there. The group stages has lost that spark i think and maybe that's why theyre changing it, and to give a larger number of clubs the chance to get beat by Real & Bayern
posted on 5/3/24
I don't see that you'll ever stop big clubs doing well in competitions. And I'd question why you'd want to. Isn't the point that the best team wins?
posted on 5/3/24
I don't really see much to get excited about. I presume the teams you play will still be decided by random draw with country protection.
Effectively, the only changes are rhat it guarantees all teams 8 games instead of 6, and it guarantees 2/3 teams a minimum of 10 games. Playing teams of the same seed does seem to make it more balanced for the lower teams whilst also introducing some big games early that won't necessarily lead to those big teams being eliminated early.
I'm not particularly keen on increasing the number of games that are taking place and this, along with the new form club world cup, are going to do just that which is questionable.
posted on 5/3/24
comment by Bãleș left boot (U22081)
posted 3 hours, 7 minutes ago
Like the changes or not, I don't see anything in the new format that leads to it being a closed shop.
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That’s what I mean by stealth.
The more UEFA can solidify the big clubs place, the more of a closed shop it becomes.
And being a closed shop wasn’t the only issue with the super league, was it?
posted on 5/3/24
comment by Winston (U16525)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Bãleș left boot (U22081)
posted 3 hours, 7 minutes ago
Like the changes or not, I don't see anything in the new format that leads to it being a closed shop.
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That’s what I mean by stealth.
The more UEFA can solidify the big clubs place, the more of a closed shop it becomes.
And being a closed shop wasn’t the only issue with the super league, was it?
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But how do these changes solidify those places any more than the existing system. For a big clu to qualify they still have to finish near the top of their league just lime they do now.
The closed shop was the main reason everyone disliked the super league because it completely removed sporting merit.
posted on 5/3/24
comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 35 minutes ago
comment by Winston (U16525)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Bãleș left boot (U22081)
posted 3 hours, 7 minutes ago
Like the changes or not, I don't see anything in the new format that leads to it being a closed shop.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That’s what I mean by stealth.
The more UEFA can solidify the big clubs place, the more of a closed shop it becomes.
And being a closed shop wasn’t the only issue with the super league, was it?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
But how do these changes solidify those places any more than the existing system. For a big clu to qualify they still have to finish near the top of their league just lime they do now.
The closed shop was the main reason everyone disliked the super league because it completely removed sporting merit.
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I understand that reasoning, but as I’ve said, it’s not that difficult for the seeding to move in such a way that it’s a closed shop in all but name.
I think this format makes it easier for the big clubs to avoid freak results and to take advantage of their seeing. I also think it’s just the start, and once the league format is embedded, we’ll see more changes to that end.
Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but given where we are now compared with 30 years ago, does anyone really believe the trend isn’t towards a closed shop with big clubs guaranteed to be in the final stages?
posted on 5/3/24
Haven't read through the thread so this has probably been addressed, but am i understanding correctly that you're potentially looking at 10 fixtures before you even get to the last 16?
That's bonkers if so - alongside the league cup for English clubs its borderline unmanageable. It actually makes me a bit more OK with us missing out next year as we'd probably end up in those play off places.
posted on 5/3/24
comment by -bloodred- (U1222)
posted 14 minutes ago
Haven't read through the thread so this has probably been addressed, but am i understanding correctly that you're potentially looking at 10 fixtures before you even get to the last 16?
That's bonkers if so - alongside the league cup for English clubs its borderline unmanageable. It actually makes me a bit more OK with us missing out next year as we'd probably end up in those play off places.
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If you finish 9th-24th place then yes. It would be 8 group fixtures followed by a play-off round. The winners of rhe play off round would go on to face the teams that finished 1-8th in the round of 16.
posted on 7/3/24
so itis financiully advantagius 2 go intooplayoff rnd insteada strate into finale rounds thingy
posted on 7/3/24
Looking at the current QF line up for this year it's looking like more of the same teams. I expect Barca, Arsenal, Dortmund, Atletico to complete the line up