Explained: The NEW Champions League, Europa League & Europa Conference League format 😮🗂️

[@marlonherr8013]

RIP good old Champions League times

[@predatorx8081]

Fr... this is utter bs

[@NgolaNalane]

This is better.

[@theghostofbabanovac7069]

@@NgolaNalane this is way worse, other teams besides the ones from England, France, Spain, Italy & Germany will barely have chances to qualify

[@NgolaNalane]

@@theghostofbabanovac7069 don't pretend as if you give a crap about leagues that aren't from the big 6/7. Who watches the polish league

[@theghostofbabanovac7069]

@@NgolaNalane I would watch Legia, Lech or Wisla in a league of their own if they were able to retain players like Lewandowski, Zielinski, Kiwior or Zalewski or i would watch a Dinamo Zagreb side with Modric, Lovren and Brozovic playing in Europe if i knew they have the best players from Croatia in their ranks but in order for these clubs to do that they need to have money and in order to have money they need a decent opportunity, chance to compete at a higher level....oh wait that's not happening so i guess there is a vicious system in place that favors the rich clubs. Do you mean to tell me that a Red Star Belgrade team from 1991 with a world class midfield comprised of Sinisa Mihajlovic, Vladimir Jugovic, Robert Prosinecki and Dejan Savicevic wasn't more exciting to watch than a Tottenham vs Newcastle ? But those were the old days when things were much fairer, i say let's bring back the foreigner limit (no more than 3 or 2 foreigners per squad or per 1st eleven) and see then how much c...p will you give to many football clubs from the big 6/7.

[@djmattblack]

No doubt managers next season will complain there's too many matches

[@bushmonster1702]

there are

[@NgolaNalane]

Rotate

[@kleec495]

@@NgolaNalane Not every teams are Man City.

[@Jout8-re1ij]

Eight matches up from six in group stage is not that much more, when its only two games more, but weird how they added round of 32 technically, because the 9-24 placed teams will play against eachother twice, unitil the winner gets to play in the round of 16.

[@Thomas-zs5wt]

​@@Jout8-re1ijthey added the round of 32 because they had an unnecessary amount of teams that nobody likes in a changed format nobody wanted

[@joeg5688]

You're not fooling anyone with this super league nonsense.

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

This is uefa last chance to hold off the clubs breaking away from their control. The big clubs want more big matches between each other and this format is designed to give them that.

[@Mdksupreme1]

This literally balances out everything and makes it far more entertaining, you are just too slow to see it

[@roychen5235]

​@magicboy-cn1yb it's only about the money because it's big matches the rest of the world wants to see.

[@roychen5235]

​@bionicgeekgrrl at it's worst (other than the harm of more games) its smaller clubs giving up some revenue for the chance to actually win games. If you're a fan of a smaller club and you're happy to get mauled by real madrid in exchange for an extra bit of cash, over a game you can actually win, you've got no pride as a football fan.

[@Trac3r.]

it isn't ESL this new format of CL works well in simulation I know I been Simming it

[@JevBrown]

Football does not need to change. Uefa are casually playing fifa career mode with everyone

[@abody499]

"it's generally accepted that the group stages of the CL are not as exciting as they should be" This is because English clubs buy all the best players from around Europe, weakening a lot of teams in the champions league whose best players often go and play for clubs who aren't in the champions league. Football needs to change.

[@roychen5235]

​@@abody499they aren't boring because the best players aren't playing in them. They're boring because if you're the worst team in a group, the only thing you can realistically play for is to drop down to Europa.

[@abody499]

@roychen5235 Why do you think Sevilla, Benfica, Lens, Salzburg, Feyenoord, Shakhtar, and others could only "realistically play...to drop down to Europa"? And it's not just those teams - even the better teams like Porto, Leipzig, and PSV lose their best players to English teams not playing in the CL. The quality of the teams playing in the CL has dropped in recent years because of this. It used to be more skewed towards the mid teams losing players to the top teams, then the mid teams buying from those below them, but now there are more and more players going to mid English clubs from all but the very top teams. That's why it would be better to watch the top 16 teams in 2 leagues of 8 playing each other home and away with the top 4 in each league going to a knockout phase. And in the new CL format, there's no balance of home and away fixtures against the same teams.

[@Jout8-re1ij]

Football has always changed over time. Maybe you are too young to see the last time Champions League changed. I think this might be even bit better, because in the small groups you already know who will go through and who dosent, so its not that exciting to follow them, while in this big league we can see how well the clubs are currently preforming at football by seeing how many points they snatch after eight games with eight diffrent opponents.

[@KC_604]

@@abody499it’s cuz the leagues they play in either laliga or serie A only have a handful of top clubs competing for the league title race atleast in the EPL you can be a mega star and still have good stats while playing on a mid team which is alot more rewarding financially and legacy wise other then staying in a league where Madrid and Barca or ac and inter all are at the top of there leagues every season so I’d want to go to the premier league to if I was on athletico ,Dormundt, etc a team that’s good but not good enough to do anything in there own leagues regardless of how well they do in the UCL

[@ventsislavyuzekchiev8304]

The only thing a don't like is that they want to give one more place for top 5 leagues, instead of giving it to a real Champions like in Poland, Czechia etc

[@TheOriginalEwan]

Never been a comment I agreed with so much before in my life. We’re supposed to believe this is the ‘champions’ league yet there’s more losers in here, who finished as far down as 5th domestically, than actual champions, who have to settle for a 3rd tier competition just to get European games under their belt.

[@sahibsahota2368]

The 10th team in the premier league is significantly better than the champions of Czechia or Poland

[@ventsislavyuzekchiev8304]

@@sahibsahota2368 that’s not the point isn’t. It’s called the “ Champions “ League and teams from 5th place will qualify while the real champions need to go through qualifiers. How the football in the Eastern Europe or other countries can compete against top 5 when they don’t let them to win money

[@sach98]

@@ventsislavyuzekchiev8304 unfortunate reality is that most viewers want to see top 5 league teams play

[@TheOriginalEwan]

@@sach98 TL;DR “I prefer seeing xyz club” is a dumb argument. personally I’m sick of seeing the same 20+ teams play each other in the same group/knockout round every single season. Idc if more people wanna see Liverpool(serial PL losers) play Athletico Madrid every year. People wonder why clubs from Northern Ireland or Lichtenstein never get into Europe, it’s because they have to play 6-8 games home and away just to get into the _group stage,_ where they’ll be handed an impossible group because they’re so far down the coefficient rankings. They can’t get better if they’re annually put against richer clubs that get byes to the later rounds.

[@HaiSpy]

English football doesn’t need another side in the champions league, smaller countries need to be given some exposure. Used to be the champions league was meant for Champions only, teams that win domestic trophies

[@Vectorghoul423]

true

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@Vectorghoul423clubs from Ukraine, Croatia like Victoria Plzen and Hajduk Split all should got a shot in Super League soon.

[@justinsm]

It's insane that Aston Villa can getting away but Galatasaray didn't qualified despite they try so hard to win the league

[@donoyster5309]

Smaller countries are involved

[@shogun......]

Word

[@saidhammar5006]

Don't run from the topic please, it's not a problem of complexity. The league format will advantage giant teams, City will top that table every single season. Under dogs will never be able to make it. Big teams will play big teams everyday, killing the excitement of big games. And small teams will get back where they belong in the deep bottom of that table and will never reach the big stages again, will never make a surprise again. This format is the very opposite of improving excitement.

[@saidmo3323]

Exactly!

[@martsien9627]

well, not really if you actually think about it. Big teams will not play big teams everyday. Pot 1 teams only play 2 teams from that pot, which btw also has leipzig in it. And if you complain about city topping the table, they do have a smaller chance of doing that in the league, than the group stage, since they might play someone like real madrid or bayern and possibly drop points, which would never have happened in a group stage.

[@ChrisBraccini-nk9fn]

Non è vero, questo format porta piú partite e dipendendo dalla fortuna troverai squadre meno forti o no, la classifica sará bellissima

[@justinsm]

This is a big leagues. And much more big teams than even Prem. There's possibility for example city would face real Madrid, Barca, Juventus, and Milan. None of this matches are easy and guaranteed them 12 points. maybe only 10, 9 maybe 8 or below if they're underperformed. Maybe Barca, Juventus, and Milan would give them huge upsets and make them try hard to even automatically qualified. Underdogs stories would happened

[@robjo5954]

This comment didn't age well...

[@simonb1996]

It's not fair for the top leagues to have so many teams. The financial gap between these clubs and great clubs of old is too big as it is, due to those clubs of old not being able to qualify as it is.

[@roychen5235]

Not really, England has to actually play for an extra spot. Right now, the top 5 leagues don't have to care about their coefficient (I.e., making their domestic leagues competitive).

[@StephenWong14]

If you don't like, then you should probably support the Super League where teams from the top league break away from the Champions League and form their own leagues. There are then more places for the champions of smaller nations to play in the Champions League.

[@heppolo]

​@@StephenWong14 every league deserves only 1 spot in the Champions League like in the good old proper football days, not this rigged moneyball nonsense. No Super duper league and preferably agents banned, salary cap and everyone going to good old 1960s-1970s

[@Lonestarr022]

@@heppolo no money in this, you'll see investors pull out and football in Europe die quickly.

[@justinsm]

@@heppolo it's hard though. Let's say why would someone watch PSV vs Celtic when they can watch El Clasico.

[@TheRealCurtisWright]

The fact that UEFA said “why would we rig the draw at the league stage?” just admits their guilt to rigging the system at some point 😂

[@roychen5235]

Everyone can see the system is rigged. The big clubs don't face each other in the group stage right now. Most of the people in these comments are complaining about things that already happen in the current format.

[@TheRealCurtisWright]

@@roychen5235 100%, you see it every year. Everyone knew City would draw Copenhagen this year

[@roughead6469]

Translation: we will rig the knockout stages

[@NgolaNalane]

@TheRealCurtisWright wow do you even understand how the pots work?

[@greenjacketman9321]

@@roychen5235 Bro that's because for the draw they're divided in different pots 🤦‍♂

[@DanielChristie-d9l]

If it wasn’t about money… why does the conference league only still play 6 games

[@someguy.3486]

Because the pot system is different

[@dethrocker]

Yeah you've been told!!! 😂😂😂

[@Daniyal731]

pot works diffrence most teams wont be able to afford it like ki

[@Wirshe00003]

They already play 2 extra games in August due to play offs

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@someguy.3486pot systems seemingly favoured Chelsea and West Ham in 2024/25 Conference League.

[@jeroenska.]

Why are they fixing something that isn't broken?

[@heppolo]

UEFA thinks the Group Stage got boring

[@jeroenska.]

@@heppolo cause they only care for the main teams. As a supporter of a team that has often been on the verge of making it to second place, the group stages have been incredibly exciting for myself and probably many other supporters of likewise teams. Even during the years we did poorly, it was cool to see the big teams, and every once in a while we would beat one and that would be the match of the year.

[@nlx78]

It was broken. I mean, stop with the seeded teams from 1 league not to end up in group stages with each other. That would have fixed a bit.

[@ph8077]

You mean like *V* *A* *R*

[@mainsmain]

Just bring back the old format without group stages it was fairer

[@ThaOneBigAndSmallOne]

Who is here after all premier league teams were eliminated & German „farmer league“ might have 6 teams in champions league LMAO

[@TankJr.]

🤡

[@gurung1812]

cry harder efl fan

[@Wardell.Koloi10037]

Lol this falls on the FA and their stubbornness prioritising Carabao cups when they should belong to lower leagues

[@MrSuperMichel1997]

I'm here right before the second leg happens between PSG & BVB, funny to see this!

[@jminjarez7206]

I’m here laughing at this clown after BVB advances to the final lol Heja BVB🖤💛

[@horacioderpington5698]

Thanks, I hate it!

[@Mdksupreme1]

That's cus you don't like football, this is an objective improvement

[@Diogo85]

​@@Mdksupreme1 No. You can like football and not like this new format.

[@Mdksupreme1]

@Diogo85 this format is objectively an improvement, you're just slow if you don't like it and you claim you like football

[@horacioderpington5698]

@@Mdksupreme1 are you good mate? You're fighting the opinion of a rando online with such vitriol I'm starting to think you're an Infantino burner account.

[@theunknown6412]

@@horacioderpington5698 live with it bro... Fighting opinion online is better than fighting a bear in Octagon 🤣🤣🤣

[@Szobo81]

How do you make the top teams happy by giving more games to play risking more injuries

[@roychen5235]

The managers will complain because it makes their jobs much harder but for the clubs more games = more money. That'd be the case no matter who they play (see preseason friendlies).

[@kleec495]

More games > more money > better players and bigger squad ideally

[@oliverhughes419]

Money

[@dragonslayer0]

​@@kleec495not on a stretcher or with crutches

[@FixiSlaptaccount]

2 games

[@Froxdj]

this is stupid, lost me after the league stage, feel sorry for the players, so many games.

[@alexanderivkin7086]

Yes, 4 more games if you finish 9-24. 2 more games if you finish 1-8. Conclusion: Win all 8 games!

[@johnhonai4601]

The problem is you are ranked in a league table in which you don't play all teams in the league. That's unfair.

[@CoL_Drake]

they get millions and still no bigger risk then in some other hard working jobs that paid minimum wage xD

[@collinstjebane7203]

That coefficient table got me good. lol

[@NgolaNalane]

Feeling sorry for millionaires while you can barely make rent? Lol

[@MarkSide_]

This is dumb, we need to protest.

[@FreeThinkAlways]

Nobody protested about the corruption of the world cup being hosted in Russia, Qatar and soon to be Saudi Arabia. You think they'll do it for this? Football fans are weak, they'll ignore most things as long as there's matches to be watched

[@MarkSide_]

@@FreeThinkAlways They can’t be getting away with this!!! 😫😭😭

[@viper2413]

@@FreeThinkAlwaysThey tried it with Qatar but then all those who argued against it also turned up. Money talks…

[@alexsilk2611]

​@@FreeThinkAlwaysnobody protested? Plenty of fans did. People just didn't listen

[@FreeThinkAlways]

@@alexsilk2611 When you say 'protested' do you mean just complained on the Internet? Just falls on death ears. Look at the viewership for the Qatar World Cup it was still high viewing figures so they know regardless how much people complain they'll still watch

[@DebarsheeTalukdar]

Don't try fixing things that aren't Broken

[@aitoluxd]

Once one or two big team(s) pull out. It's all over

[@victorrenney9182]

The system before was so boring and predictable. Was for sure broken, people want to see variety and bigger games. Not playing 3 of the same teams twice in a group stage

[@CelestialLight7]

This new system is only favorable to the owners. The fans, players, managers are extremely against it!

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

This is the entire point. It's uefas last dice roll against the big clubs taking their teams away from their control.

[@NgolaNalane]

Don't speak for every fan. Some of us actually want to see bigger games

[@mezoori]

explain why you are against it

[@alanfox691]

​@@mezoori If you cant understand that then you have a massive problem that no one can ever help you with.

[@brandonjablasone7544]

@@alanfox691maybe you should explain instead of insulting. I see the problem but not everybody think like you. The only problem is that there are way too much game for the team and players. It's going to be a lot of injuries in the up coming years

[@TheShizaarius]

Unpopular opinion: It's actually more exciting to have a league format and 8 different opponents for each club than a group stage with just 3 opponents + home and away ties, shocks and upsets can also still happen like before. Also, no Europa League if you finish third, once you're out, you're out. Looking forward to see how it turns out.

[@captainfalconmain6576]

hmm

[@ayaanlatif2296]

How’s it fair on the players tho, it’s more games in an already gruelling schedule And there’s no point being in pot 1 if you’re still gonna play 2 teams from pot 1 No one really has an advantage which is unfair if you performed well in the league and/or won the ucl. You should have some sort of reward for performing well

[@chidigodwinchinewubeze4231]

Finally! Someone comes along with a brain! It would be a ton more exciting!!!

[@tinofaratinashemukakaso5632]

@TheShizaarius yeah I agree with you having just rewatched it. There's hope in this

[@matthiasvanaenrode9683]

As a watcher, of course it’s more exciting to watch. More exciting games between different countries. But as a player, this is deadly…

[@Blueflag04]

This is ridiculous. I dont think I will follow these competitions after this season is over.

[@NgolaNalane]

Okay bye

[@azmanabas8425]

Hasta la vista

[@stipe9773]

Same for me

[@DarylSpykerman]

@@stipe9773 Ok sure

[@DarylSpykerman]

@@NgolaNalane Ok sure

[@relaxingheart682]

I do agree the current group stages are boring, so ditch the groups and just make it all knockout games like the FA Cup

[@1GTX1]

Back in 2000s it was so exciting to see a club that i watched ''Partizan Belgrade'' here from Serbia eliminate Newcastle and play in Champions League, during that time you had local players that went on to play in top leagues latter, so you never knew what to expect, but now it's old players who return from abroad, foreigners, and young players that no one wanted to buy, so it would be boring to watch the group stage. Red Star Belgrade did a miracle by beating Liverpool years ago but that's difficult to repeat.

[@Streetfussball]

Basically a SUPER LEAGUE. 🤣

[@abody499]

not at all like the super league

[@FormulaProg]

​@@abody499no it's worse and complicated

[@andypandy4607]

@@FormulaProgwhy is it worse

[@martsien9627]

The super league's premise, was that none of the rich teams would be able to not qualify for it. The champions league is literally the same, except you dont have a group stage, but a league table.

[@FormulaProg]

@@andypandy4607 because they're turning a much loved tried and tested competition into a super league

[@iamcosta]

Uefa will rigged the draws imagine Aston Villa vs Real Madrid 😂. That's not gonna sell as Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid or Inter Milan

[@danh945]

Aston Villa wouldn't be in pot 1.

[@NgolaNalane]

Tell me you don't know ball

[@justinsm]

Aston can't won EPL now. Pot 1 the best pot consist of UCL, UEL, and top 7 league winner. For now those pots would filled with Inter, Leverkusen, and PSG. (real Madrid, PSV, and Sporting might have huge potential but let's say if PSG won UCL or Leverkusen won UEL the spot would given to 8th league champions which most likely Union this season)

[@CoL_Drake]

@@justinsm union what ? you expect us to know what the 8th league is ? xD

[@sunilnarine6313]

its okay to rig, if you are champion you have to beat anybody to reach final just like real madird did in 2021 season.

[@MrHamibaloochi]

Too many matches, people will get tired of too much hype and football is gonna die out. Imagine if you eat pizza once or twice a week, it's ok but if you eat it everyday you'll puke it out

[@Dinyo55]

The software has algorithms in it. As long as there are algorithms involved, you cannot guarantee a fair draw. Google AI proved that bias and nonsense can be factored into a software very easily.

[@jacksmith694]

But hey they have top accounting firms and more software to make sure they don’t get it wrong, we should be okay😂

[@aceking_offsuit]

In all fairness, the ones you're talking about involves aspects that are meant to interact with people and 'learn' from them. The systems that will be creating the schedules won't be doing any of that. They'll basically be doing combinatorics to create schedules that follow specific rules (2 from each group, no opponents from X league, etc.), which is what the algorithms are very good at.

[@gerit14]

AI != software With a simple algorithm you can surely make certain it is actually neutral.

[@superdrz2196]

I guess you are not a Fan of math

[@goodman4093]

Software Import random teams = [ 36 clubs ] Man city opponents =[] For i in range(8): Man city_draws = random.choice(teams) If Man city_draws not in Man City_opponents: mancity_opponents.append(Man city_draws)

[@yawfraser]

They should have just kept the old format and just do away with teams falling from the Champions league to the Europa when they place 3rd

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

Yes, elimination should always have meant total elimination.

[@rontalks8953]

Big facts been saying that for years

[@chrisbarker890]

Are you serious???? The draw is made by a computer !!

[@alanfox691]

Basically read that as U.E.F.A. want to descise the reality if it being fixed so certain club's they favour more than others play each other when they need them to play each other to generate maximum revenue. This is all about revenue nothing else. Football in Europe is starting to lose all credibility there is to much money at stake now In European football I strongly suspect the mast majority of European Leagues are to some extent rigged.

[@imposter2.024]

Right like why fix something that is not broken this is not a good format

[@jameswright4236]

UEFA simply can't win. Do it digitally, there's claims of corruption. Do it manually, claims of corruption as the "hot balls" are supposedly avoided. Hence why I feel they should send it to an entirely independent third party. Hell, just go out and randomly pick someone off the street or someone that has no interest in the sport whatsoever so as to prevent claims of a fix.

[@AdamAzMcLean]

The same ‘computer’ processes helped you type that comment. The future is now.

[@brettharter143]

Writihg the comment isnt the same as choosing teams in a commercial setting^ Its rife for corruption....

[@alisalim9289]

Too complex. Let's wait and see how it pans out.

[@randomdaveUK]

It's actually more straightforward. It's just a league with cutoffs. No different to a lower league with playoffs. Top teams go to knockouts. Teams below have a one off match to get through. Others are out. Pretty simple. Not sure whether I prefer it, let's see what it's like

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

It's no more complicated after league phase. No home away with every team in smaller groups. Only ends up being 2 more games per team and they potentially have less travelling to worry about. Plus they get rid of dropping down the competition. So teams eliminated will have a lot less games, so staying in the competition will be even more important as they will risk huge drop offs in ma5ch and prize money.

[@Mdksupreme1]

It's not complex at all, you're just slow

[@roychen5235]

The end result is just a table of teams from 1-36. It gets more complex the more you care about trying to predict what the result will be. But at the end of the day it is just a table like any domestic league.

[@irari_1]

Real "Champions League"

[@DarreBet]

why why destroy something good?

[@piotrhrybkowski6360]

It is horrible. Boring as hell.

[@NgolaNalane]

Because this is better

[@Daniyal731]

@@NgolaNalane i agree i think it will be good im a fan of a euroapa leage club or conferecne were useally in either 1 or the other and i think it will be good

[@lethalchicken1able]

Why?!? The current system is tried and tested and works really well. Why change it? Ridiculous.

[@captainfalconmain6576]

actually the ucl should be straight knockout round of 32 should be 2 legs

[@crokkadoodledoo9956]

@@captainfalconmain6576that would be 100x better than the mess they’ve made now.

[@noyp236]

Letting the computer decide which team can play against each other... Yah doesnt sounds rigged....

[@rah-mown6392]

Yes we should let a random guy fish out balls instead. That wasn’t rigged either. 🙄

[@ayrton56612]

I don't want to see the best opponents face eacht other right from the starts. That is what the knock out stage is for. If they want the group stage to be more exciting they should go the old format with less teams and no relegation to a lower league. Elimination is elimination.

[@captainfalconmain6576]

me neither

[@Eighty94]

Open your eyes people. They are slowly setting up the super leauges for the future. All european domestic Leagues will start to crumble as the divide between the big money clubs and the smaller clubs grows larger. These will be the only main 3 leauges in European top flight football.

[@roychen5235]

Thats already happened though, PSG didn't get Messi and Neymar to win Ligue 1. Most of the leagues in Europe only really have 1 or 2 teams that win it most years. The Domestic leagues "destroyed" themselves

[@Blueflag04]

Ever since some of the big clubs overspent to break the contract clause to get some players, those clubs then became too big for anyone to stop

[@danielvandam]

You need to lower the pitchfork buddy. Explain why this makes the divide bigger?

[@Eighty94]

@@danielvandam I’m not going to waste my time trying to help you understand basic economics. Hopefully one day you’ll be able to answer your own question

[@Vectorghoul423]

true well ucl would be way more boring and less chances for underdogs to win sad

[@nbarrett100]

If it takes 8 minutes to explain your new format... it's probably a bad format

[@InstigatorDJ]

Also how is England cooefficient lower than Italy and Germany? Literally been england teams in the last 5 years semis and finals including winners.

[@poeticbradley3521]

These coefficients are on a season by season basis so if English teams all do trash one season it’s likely we’d only have 4 teams in the ucl

[@tombardsley3081]

Italy had teams in the final of every European competition last season. It was a Milan derby in the semi finals of the champions league

[@aespactzen880]

Thanks to Man U and Newcastle for getting knocked out early in the group stage.

[@Hello-wy2px]

This isn’t about the last 5 years though now is it

[@Michael-st9ky]

I looked it up, getting out of the group gives more bonus points (5) than making it through to the finals (2).

[@Pittanza]

I don't like 2 things: the lack of home/away matches and the MANY more matches the teams will have to play. I like the shared standings thoug, because it will prevent the elimination of teams with 12 points and the qualification with 6.

[@nlx78]

I like the part where CL losers don't end up in EL (and then some clubs really can't be bothered, others somewhat can, just not the top 10 club, kind of ruining it for others) Same from EL to Conf.L

[@DionDavis14]

The champions league should only be for the champions of each league. It's a shambles all these extra places / slots go to runner up clubs in the table. It's the champions league. If not, change the name of the competition. But of course, it's all for the money... Money, money, money! 💸

[@costelstan5279]

Imagine a team never been domestic league champion but ending up being European champion idk it's weird to me

[@TheMonkeyLegend]

@@costelstan5279it is weird when you think about it but wouldn’t it be more boring if Man City was the only English club or Bayern was on the German club in the UCL? We wouldn’t have the what I think is abit more of an exciting final now with Dortmund

[@costelstan5279]

@KinzokuDrummer no I'm just saying that it doesn't make sense let's say for example dortmund won the cl but never won domestic championship in their history its kinda weird isn't it?

[@juliememoriesguest7958]

It used to be how old are you

[@gn0015]

I think even Kaveh was going through system reboot multiple times in his head trying to explain this mess.

[@RehanAli-u2n]

The way he says it like its nothing

[@DC-ix3hx]

I'm not sure all the athletes can handle the physical stress from all these extra matches, longevity is biggest enemy of topflight players.

[@svokxz6435]

I wish they did this like the Danish system(Swiss System) for the league phase so equally ranked teams actually play each other even if they play each other again.

[@Daniyal731]

you mean the split happens in scotland to top 6 vs bottem 6

[@johnjim6793]

There is a basic idea of fairness that when you face an opponent at home, then you should also play him in an away match. So if you have a group match where you have different opponents at home and away, it will always feel annatural. Things like this have been tried before, but all such systems have been falling back into the classic group format sooner or later. So this weird system will not last. Sooner or later we will see some further alteration, like 64 teams in groups of four or 48 teams in groups of three or something like that.

[@siphemanana2551]

I think it’s going to be 40 teams for each competition but it’s 8 groups of 5 teams instead of 4. I honestly think it’s the way forward

[@Cio_d-borba]

Why change something that worked for many years and literally no one complained about? This new format seems bs and i hope it won't stick for too long

[@kikoman780311]

My issues with the new format are: 1. Risk of player injury; With each team playing more matches, you run the risk of player injury and fatigue when you account for domestic league and international competition play. 2. Diluted competition; I’ve always considered the Champions League to be the most elite tournament of all sports, where only the best of the best need RSVP. Now UEFA has added more back channels for teams to enter the competition. And if money is all UEFA cares about, then I’m sure one day they will entertain the possibility of a wildcard entry into the qualifying rounds for the Saudi Arabian League winner… for a hefty price.

[@gipende7728]

I can’t disagree with you🤔 you make an interesting prediction. I can only add that this will turn more and more people off following the “big” clubs and back to grassroots where if you’re lucky the game still means something deeper than cash and entertainment

[@andrew_rubia]

Instead of using computers. Have consequtive physical draws happening at the same time you just need space and cameras. Or use the lottery ball system to draw more balls at a time. About fitting 36 teams on the screen. Just split the table into two. Half on the left and half of the right.

[@MIris44474]

Its mad that football is changing, this is basically that super league they wanted

[@Cracker-p9q]

Exactly that they just moved the goal posts, pardon the pun.

[@paddypenman2682]

Basically like shuffling around the deck chairs on the Titanic

[@reecepopplewell7390]

I think this is interesting, I would say perhaps the teams playing a playoff game from 9th to 24th, maybe 9-16 should be rewarded with a home match, instead of it being two legged. Reduce the potential extra 4 games to 3.

[@Renegade76892]

One thing i do like is imagine what the final day of the league phase is gonna be like if they do it right and have all games kick off at the same time...madness 😳

[@plamerj1234]

all games should kick off at the same time i agree. managers have to play what's needed to get results then, no resting players because the night before you secured r16 from another teams loss when you can secure it yourself with a win.

[@kuhisyamuddin8431]

@@plamerj1234 then the problem is when you have many favourite or good team to watch, but you can only watch one game for one team only, lmao..

[@olaoluwadiji5788]

tbh i prefer the old one but u never know if a small team could win and could surprise any1

[@captainfalconmain6576]

true

[@rah-mown6392]

Exactly, man city would never lose in a knockout/group stage game if they knew they could recover and take the points in the next game against the same team.

[@HXT_916]

UEFA are using horizon to do the draws. 😂

[@cedrickbenson8825]

This is obviously better. I’ve been a football fan all my life. I was economics student, now in tech field and I understand UEFA’s motives. Many clubs struggling financially post Covid-19. This obviously helps more money circulating in the system. There was a time people were complaining about heating balls during draws. Now , there’s no chance for that. A software monitoring by a trusted company will handle the significant part of the draw. This is much transparent and more of a game of lovers of football.

[@propanbutan4634]

I just lost my interest in the champions league. Could not give damn. I miss those days in the 2000s.

[@denzelheden4256]

This is what European Super League format was about to be, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Arsenal, PSG, Bayern Munich and other teams wanted to breakaway from the Monopoly of UEFA

[@NoCluYT]

I like this to be honest. I'm often wanting the UCL groupstage to just get over with, but this seems like it will bring some excitement and surprise teams making it through, rather than seeing each group with 2 good teams and 2 low level teams with predictable outcomes.

[@purwantiallan5089]

Some clubs liked this format, but many disliked it.

[@justinsm]

There's still upsets in the last format. For example when man Utd got knocked out and Copenhagen qualified. Or Sevilla got knocked out in a groups where only Arsenal the good teams. Or in groups that Inter and Benfica should be favorites but out of nowhere Sociedad topping the group. And remember when Dortmund would be predicted knocked out in groups? they're the finalist last season topping the group of death as well. And we're not mentioning the previous season where teams like Barca, ATM, Juventus got knocked out in group stage also

[@kennethuyabeme]

I actually think this format is gonna be super fun. Really excited for how it's gonna be done the women's competition too.

[@KM-ix3ms]

In my longer saves of Football Manager I've actually enjoyed this very much

[@captainfalconmain6576]

can you explain why ?

[@allenqueen]

Please Sir, can you elaborate

[@KM-ix3ms]

@@allenqueen just found the four team group stages boring. This feels like another league but across the continent.

[@adamus1342]

Same. I was very cynical about it when it was announced but I started to like it in Football Manager.

[@peteranthony7115]

What is the point of the elite teams playing each other every week isn't that just going to make football less exciting

[@yux.tn.3641]

if it doesn't work, we can always try 8 groups of 5 teams?

[@captainfalconmain6576]

yep 😊

[@xq1234wzts]

They should make Swiss format. Current format with pots, predefined matches in all group stage is idiotic to say the least. Someone will say it would be organizational nightmare to make it swiss from Game 1 - maybe, but for the viewers/fans it would be more understandable. Now, this new format if only for clubs and UEFA.

[@ScottishMapper.]

Don’t think this is the right path in football. Just more TV Advertising 😅

[@roychen5235]

Supply and demand. If you don't like it, don't watch, they're only doing it cause people are watching.

[@Blueflag04]

They just want our money

[@g.berenstein683]

I don't get why people are complaining. More big games from the start and clubs play more games against clubs with the same strength and have a chance to play bigger clubs. It's a win win

[@_Dream_Sleep]

Recovery takes time. Potential injuries increase (load of minutes played). That’s the thing-All coupled with the local league back home (+ Cups). And with Premier League becoming stronger and stronger (9 teams competing for the title!), chances Real Madrid will keep winning. We need to activate the Maths in future seasons; Urgently‼️

[@TheRealRoman11]

This is the beginning of UEFA Super League

[@philipmcniel4908]

I understand the problems with not knowing your opponent in time for people to make travel arrangements, but IMO if they're going to combine all the teams into one huge league table, the *only* way to do that well is to have a true Swiss system, the way it's done in large open chess tournaments.

[@sahilahmad6344]

I really like it but the players should also be considered as there will be too many matches. Uefa should reduce international break imo

[@pyrochrys9555]

After watching the draw, I'd rather wait 3-4 hours, it's just too fast, there was no tension, no suspense, a team was drawn and then just flew by

[@OiiRobbi3x]

Maybe if the draw is broken thats a good sign youve broken the competition. Numpties.

[@joshuasaddlemire6721]

The amount of injuries that are going to happen now. This is dumb.

[@captainfalconmain6576]

yep

[@donoyster5309]

Just 2 more games

[@Kinglife1000]

@@donoyster5309 Yeah JUST 🧐

[@Maxim1993-n6o]

So basically it does not even matter if you are in pot 1 or 4 with the draw ? because you will draw 2 teams from each pot anyway ? Even as a pot 1 team you draw 2 teams from pot 1 ?

[@captainfalconmain6576]

yep it’s actually for money

[@fili0938]

The pots do not matter for the purpose of making high ranked clubs have an easy time. The pots matter for the sake of making every single club have a balanced experience. If every club faces 2 top clubs, 2 good clubs, 2 mediocre clubs and 2 poor clubs then everyone has had a fair draw.

[@TheBillABCTV]

Too many matches. They should have it knockout only.

[@TheLegend-wd6vo]

This is basically super league they wanted to do

[@crokkadoodledoo9956]

Ikr. They literally gaslit the fans to believe they would never change CL. Then instantly turned it into super league

[@Cracker-p9q]

@@crokkadoodledoo9956 They also realise that genuine fans will not be able to afford to keep travelling to europe, so it''l only be for the casual fans with plenty of money that have no passion for the clubs.

[@crokkadoodledoo9956]

@@Cracker-p9q it’s already so boring and a clusterfack. Far too many minnow teams. No one wants to watch Barca v Youngboys or teams you never heard of from smaller leagues. CL is supposed to be best of the best. Nearly every group was a group of death. This new system is awful.

[@b4air]

There is no justice in one country's 5th team gets to be in the Champions League whilst another country's champion doesn't (no matter how competitive or better the former than the ladder)

[@roychen5235]

Fair enough, but also under the current format that other team wouldn't get a spot anyways. I like the changes, most people's issues with it are stuff that already happens in the current format.

[@wowrb]

its called the champions league, the best teams of the best leagues

[@b4air]

It's called the champions league... Every single champion has to be in that league. Not the 5th of some league.. @@wowrb

[@wowrb]

@@b4air not of some leagues, the best leagues

[@ludwig-alice]

@@b4air Well Dortmund is 5th in its league. And they are in the semi finale even though their player roster is the worst since 15 years

[@aldenpadilla1773]

I want super league with a relegation and promotion system. The home leagues like premier league or la liga will be considered 2nd division leagues. The 1st division league should comprise 20 teams from all over Europe that way we'll actually know who is the best of the best after 38 matches.

[@captainfalconmain6576]

pro/rel only works for european leagues not for a super league

[@mellymoo_eats]

Just leave the current method as it is.

[@_Dream_Sleep]

Recovery takes time. Potential injuries increase (load of minutes played). That’s the thing-All coupled with the local league back home (+ Cups). And with Premier League becoming stronger and stronger (9 teams competing for the title!), chances Real Madrid will keep winning. We need to activate the Maths in future seasons; Urgently‼️

[@McD5791]

Looks like the old 'finish third in the Champions League group, drop down to Europa League playoff' process has been done away with...

[@tiagonogueira664]

You can divide the screen by 4 parts of 8 , in the league format this aligns with the 8 guaranteed spots, the 16 playoff spots and the 8 eliminated clubs spots

[@TrymYoutubeMainChannel]

City has the 155 charges too

[@Channel-qt8xe]

still crying

[@Diogo85]

​@@Channel-qt8xeThey're going on trial in 2025.

[@CYB3R2K]

Having an algorithm that controls what what teams you face and having all "virtually" the same type of matches is bad. Some of those "squashes" matches and underdog stories won't happen anymore like this.

[@bhavishshah2415]

We live in an age where people seem to believe in conspiracy theories. Sky Sports : *Posts rumours related to Rashford, Saka or ETH*

[@nstalkies449]

I love how all the hypothetical comments he says are actually perfectly valid, strong criticisms of the new format

[@victorAgain00]

How are they going to get 36 teams in the europa league if only one or 2 teams from each league qualify??

[@DS9TREK]

England gets 3 teams in it

[@Windforce7]

I know right, confusing me so much.

[@beautifulsydney]

They think more games = more money 💰 Quality is getting watered down 👇🏻 Eventually no one is gonna watch half the games Which = less money Look at the NFL 16 games and finals 👍🏻 Every game counts

[@captainfalconmain6576]

facts

[@xyz1415]

Isn't 36 teams too many for a league format? Besides how are the matches going to cram in the football calendar?

[@captainfalconmain6576]

actually technically yes

[@MrLewis-lk8us]

This is absolute madness. They’re just re-packaging the same bicycle they gave you on Christmas and giving it to you for your both day, over and over and over.

[@mr.mentesh8130]

Nice way to crap on such an amazing tournament...load of crap

[@DunDun-e43]

I get all that, but what about the 35th team and 36th team, how are they decided if as normal they are top of the domestic league then who get those spots?

[@CrestoRose]

Hey, I know I am answering late and maybe you already got your answer, but besides the 2 best nations coefficient in the season, one place will be given to 3th place in 5th nation in country's coefficient ranking (France) and another to a champion through qulifications. That's for the UCL, the rest are pretty much the same.

[@Yautja24]

If there is a superleauge i would not watch. The beauty of football is become the champion of your country and let those champions compete of the ultimate prize (CL). A Superleagu would mean all football history (domestic titles) don't mean a thing anymore. you will have a cup with the same teams over and over, i don't care about. Also without small teams, there are no big teams. I would not watch it, or pay for it. Not a fan of the new CL/EL/ECL format. But let's try it. I am afraid it will be a Russian roulette who go's through first round.

[@Taypha1914]

What he just said is completely cap, the group stage ain’t boring. I like seeing the bigger match ups between european giants towards the latter stage of the season

[@saidmo3323]

Why fix something that is not broken??!

[@combrolaut]

Together with domestic league and domestic cup, how many games player have to play week in week out....😮😮

[@Jut_tc]

In conclusion, Super League. Let's crack on with it.

[@NgolaNalane]

Nobody was against the super league. Problem was there was no relegation. So clam your tits

[@kozashi]

So is it more profitable to not advance from places 1-8 becasue you miss additional knock-out games that brings you money from tickets?

[@jamesduffy7549]

Scrap it, only 1st place from each uefa member should get to play and the winner of the fa cup or equivalent. No europa league no conference league

[@_Dream_Sleep]

Recovery takes time. Potential injuries increase (load of minutes played). That’s the thing-All coupled with the local league back home (+ Cups). And with Premier League becoming stronger and stronger (9 teams competing for the title!), chances Real Madrid will keep winning. We need to activate the Maths in future seasons; Urgently‼️

[@TheOriginalEwan]

It was bad enough when they got rid of away goals. European football hype is officially dead in the water.

[@Blueflag04]

Its already dead since money was involved

[@Diogo85]

Extra time>Away goals

[@Monstrosity993]

@@Diogo85yup

[@TheOriginalEwan]

@@Monstrosity993 absolutely not 😂 there could still be extra time if the away goals were still even. Now there’s no incentive to play proper football away from home. Every single game now has the away team sit back and defend.

[@zesty7893]

Wtf was away goals?

[@marcocarrillo3923]

Some teams are just going to be stuck deciding which competition gets priority. League or continental competition? On top of that, teams are going to be dependent on having strong talent on the bench, due to the extra games.

[@SceptiCynicism]

Unnecessary and unwanted. I do not know which audience this change is meant to appease but I am certain that they have a short attention span that definitely should not be catered to.

[@freakyholic]

I want this. This sounds more exciting

[@Blueflag04]

​@@freakyholiconly you want this, not us

[@ryanfranchitti]

I like how they bring up an example like if city were to win the ucl but finish outside the top 5 is an impossible scenario when Chelsea literally did this in the 2011/2012 season. So it’s not impossible at all for there to possibly be 7 English teams.

[@mezoori]

For anyone saying this new system is stupid, please actually explain why you think that without buzz words like "its all about the money" or "this is just the superleague"?

[@aceking_offsuit]

I don't like that they're adding more games to an already-crowded calendar. I don't like that so many of the extra places are going to the big leagues, creating a bigger gap between the haves and have nots. I don't like how there's effectively no difference between finishing 9th out of 36 and finishing 24th, which will create a lot of games on the final day where one or both teams will have little to play for. I like the end of the 'lucky loser' path to lower level knockouts, but that's about it.

[@larsw.9442]

First off, computer-generated draws should be an absolute no-no! Even if they are clean, the lack of transparency and leaves far more room for manipulation. It certainly increases this perception. 2) It is not an even playing field. Under the older format each team was judged seperately based on their perfomance in the group. Some groups can be tougher than other. But it's fair because they all play against each other under euqal condition (once home and once away). Under the new system you are basically comparing teams in one giant table when they will never play each other. Not all teams in those pots are equal. For example, Team X has to face much stronger opponents from pot 2/3, while Team Y has the "fortune" to face weaker ones. Imagine a Premiere League where each club only plays against half the teams. That's not what Sports is about, and in that regard the old format is by far superior. 3) Entertainment. A small group where there is only one parallel game going is easier to follow and thus creates more drama. Look at the WC2022 Group as an example. Now Suppose your team plays in this new format, is currently positioned at 7th, 8th or 9th and is heading into its last game. Good luck trying to keep up with the scores of 17 other matches going on at the same time, which could all influence the final placement. It baffles me how anyone can think this is superior to a group format, in terms of audience engagement, drama and enjoyable entertainment. And if you think so please, offer a rebuttle and explain how 18 simultaniously played matches are more entertaining, when it's way too much to follow or keep track of. 4) More games. As others have said, players are already overfilled in their schedule with games. 2 more matches (4 should a team reach the playoffs) makes players more prone to injury. And before you say it: The answer is not more rotation. Again, what's the point of watching great teams plays when half their star players aren't even playing or are in the sqaud? From an entertainment perspective this is definetally a downgrade, of not for the CL, then modt certainly for their national league. I can go on about other points. Further disparity between the top clubs and the rest. Less chances for upsets or underdog stories. The dilution of quality But hopefully this got your mind joggin' a bit. The new system is by far inferior in many important aspects of competitive football. It tries to copy a league format while still keeping with a Group-Stage -like concept. In germany, we would say _nicht Halbes und nichts Ganzes_. It is far too convoluted and complicated and gets rid of something that was probably the best format there is. Cheers

[@SAINTJONATHAN4692]

The coaches should please protest this, we fans don't like the changes because it will kill the surprises and the excitement in champions league

[@captainfalconmain6576]

yep