UEFA is working on the reform of the current Champions League system to prevent the Super League promoted by the most powerful clubs in Europe from becoming a reality. The European body’s plan is to expand the current competition from 32 to 36 teams and replace the traditional group stage with a single league in which each participant would play 10 games instead of 6 as now.
The idea is that this reform will come into force in 2024, but the European Leagues, in their extraordinary assembly today, are reluctant to give their support because they do not see clearly how the four additional places will be distributed, but also because of the increase in the number of meetings on an already busy schedule.
Ten games against as many rivals
UEFA’s project, which will present its 55 member associations on Tuesday, consists of a single group of 36 teams and an overall ranking. Each participant will play a total of 10 games in this first phase, as they will face as many rivals only once.
The schedule will be based on a seeded system that will ensure that each team faces roughly the same level of “difficult” and “easier” matches.
The first eight, to eighths and 16 teams, to a playoff
The top eight finishers of this global classification will go directly to the round of 16 and the remaining eight will come out of a playoff among those who have finished from 9th to 16th place against one of those placed from 16th to 24th.
The inclusion of the playoff is designed to keep the interest in the first phase alive for as long as possible, but it could result in a team that finishes 24th in the only group of 36 reaching the knockout stages.
The champion will play 17 games
In total, the champion of this new Champions League will have played a total of 17 matches instead of 13. This is a point of friction between UEFA and the European Leagues.
As for how the four additional places will be distributed from the current 32 to the 36 proposed by UEFA, the less powerful leagues as well as their federations fear that they will finally be, as they have been up to now, for the traditionally more important countries from the point of view football.
France will have a direct third place
In this sense, everything indicates that France will win a third more direct access place compared to the two that correspond to it at present. The other three places would be distributed according to the UEFA club coefficient ranking.
With the new format planned by UEFA, there will no longer be teams coming from the previous qualifying phases and places will be awarded according to a new method yet to be agreed.