Author Topic: Champions league changes approved. (Read 7435 times)

JRed · « **on:** May 10, 2022, 03:38:32 pm »

So the new format for the champions league group stage has been approved and it looks fucking shite. All teams in same league and playing 8 games, 4 home and 4 away but only playing any team once. Top 8 go through and next 16 play off to go through.

No ‘legacy places’ but best two performing leagues get an extra place so very likely England will regularly have 5 places.

Think I would’ve preferred the super league.

deano2727 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:44:39 pm »

Another nail in the coffin.

Nick110581 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:46:03 pm »

Strange format.

What will happen with the semi finals now ?

Samie · « **Reply #3 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:46:51 pm »

GIVE ME SUPER LEAGUE!

Dim Glas · « **Reply #4 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:49:23 pm »

why on earth do leagues need an extra place.

It’s bad enough they do it through Europa winners, often meaning one of the big leagues has 5 teams in.

Rather have a team from a ‘lesser’ league in. Who on earth wants more chances of teams from the same domestic leagues playing more games vs each other in Europe too. It’s dull.

No format will be perfect, but the one now is decent. So yes, let’s change it for the worse, classic UEFA. More games = more money though.

rocco · « **Reply #5 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:51:30 pm »

Quote from: Nick110581 on May 10, 2022, 03:46:03 pm

Strange format.

What will happen with the semi finals now ?

No change now but under consideration

Alisson Wonderland · « **Reply #6 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:51:31 pm »

The Group Stage could perhaps do with a refresh but I really don't think this is it.

Everyone in the same group but only plays 8 games. Why not just have groups of 5 if they want this? It would make more sense.

JRed · « **Reply #7 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:52:15 pm »

Quote from: Nick110581 on May 10, 2022, 03:46:03 pm

Strange format.

What will happen with the semi finals now ?

Knockout stages to remain the same as now.

ScouserAtHeart · « **Reply #8 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:52:26 pm »

Quote from: Dim Glas on May 10, 2022, 03:49:23 pm

why on earth do leagues need an extra place.

It’s bad enough they do it through Europa winners, often meaning one of the big leagues has 5 teams in.

Rather have a team from a ‘lesser’ league in. Who on earth wants more chances of teams from the same domestic leagues playing more games vs each other in Europe too. It’s dull.

No format will be perfect, but the one now is decent. So yes, let’s change it for the worse, classic UEFA. More games = more money though.

Broadcasters and advertizers of course. Where woukd UEFA be without their money

Sharado · « **Reply #9 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:53:05 pm »

Is there a non league thread somewhere? It's the future of football fyi.

Sudden Death Draft Loser · « **Reply #10 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:55:15 pm »

Quote from: Sharado on May 10, 2022, 03:53:05 pm

Is there a non league thread somewhere? It's the future of football fyi.

Maybe I should switch to Exeter. Their ground is only about 10 minutes away, they're fan owned, and have just been promoted to league one.

JRed · « **Reply #11 on:** May 10, 2022, 03:57:36 pm »

That group stage is going to be dreadful.

Sir Capon of Debaser · « **Reply #12 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:00:05 pm »

What’s wrong with the one they’re using now ffs

stoa · « **Reply #13 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:01:12 pm »

Quote from: ScouserAtHeart on May 10, 2022, 03:52:26 pm

Broadcasters and advertizers of course. Where woukd UEFA be without their money

Let's be fair though. It's also clubs like us who want stuff like this. I'm not sure what our stance of this is, but clearly for the big clubs it's a way to make sure they get the sweet CL-money every season even, if they have an off year. We don't need it at the moment, but in other years it might have been good for us, if the Premier League had additional CL-places. It's part of the reason why the European Super Leauge was planned. The big clubs want to be on the biggest stage every season and they want to make sure, that it is very unlikely that they aren't. Uefa, broadcasters and advertisers play their part, too, but please let's not pretend that the (big) clubs aren't pushing for this as well...

Edit: And just to make it clear, that doesn't mean I'm for this change. It's a complete clusterfuck and it's providing a solution for a problem that doesn't exist... If anything I want more national champions in the Champions League.

RainbowFlick · « **Reply #14 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:03:06 pm »

does Gary Neville not fancy starting another riot then or what

Zaffarious · « **Reply #15 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:06:48 pm »

wiat so you play 8 games but against different teams than the other teams in the league?! What the actual fuck is this

rocco · « **Reply #16 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:10:16 pm »

Quote from: Capon Debaser on May 10, 2022, 04:00:05 pm

What’s wrong with the one they’re using now ffs

They’re saying clubs wanted more games ( the money men not the managers )

redgriffin73 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:18:54 pm »

What a load of shite. How can you just play random teams once, not home and away, how is that fair and equal?

disgraced cake · « **Reply #18 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:20:37 pm »

This shit adds even further to the reason why I hope we win the Champions League this season (pretty much goes without saying

) - because after this there's only two seasons left with a format that despite a few flaws, isn't really broken.

"The top eight will go through to the knockout stage, while those from ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged play-off to progress."

Look at the fucking state of it. What are you doing to the greatest competition ever devised across any sport?

Also ...

Uefa added that "similar format changes will also be applied to the Europa League (eight matches in the league stage) and Europa Conference League (six matches in the league stage) and both will also include 36 teams in the league phase".

Ruining the Europa League even further and somehow making the new competition, which is disgracefully bad, even worse. If you didn't laugh you'd cry really. It's going to be like in Brazil where about 14 fucking teams get into the continental trophies.

Dr Stu-Pid · « **Reply #19 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:45:42 pm »

Quote from: disgraced cake on May 10, 2022, 04:20:37 pm

"The top eight will go through to the knockout stage, while those from ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged play-off to progress."

This should be called the 'get out of jail' stage. If one of the big clubs f*cks up and doesn't make the top 16 then they get a second chance to beat a team that actually deserves a last 16 spot over two legs.

rob1966 · « **Reply #20 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:48:10 pm »

Fucking pile of shite - fuck off UEFA and fuck of Gary Neville, you fucking inbred 6 fingered fucking rat.

Red Beret · « **Reply #21 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:48:11 pm »

They'll do anything to let Man Utd into this competition ffs. I know we qualified in 04-05 through virtue of being CL winners, but routinely letting any team in that's likely got less than 60 points is nuts.

rob1966 · « **Reply #22 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:49:37 pm »

Quote from: Red Berry on May 10, 2022, 04:48:11 pm

They'll do anything to let Man Utd into this competition ffs. I know we qualified in 04-05 through virtue of being CL winners, but routinely letting any team in that's likely got less than 60 points is nuts.

Funny as fuck if its Chelseas,West Ham, Spurs and Arsenal who finish 3rd to 6th and keep the Mancs in 7th

Red Beret · « **Reply #23 on:** May 10, 2022, 04:51:53 pm »

Well to add to my previous post, I know Everton finished fifth on 72 points one year, and Arsenal with 75, but are high scoring 5th placed finishes common?

LovelyCushionedHeader · « **Reply #24 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:00:51 pm »

Win the first 4 games and you'll be good as through. Depending how the fixtures fall, you'll then get some shit teams qualifying by virtue of playing teams that have already qualified, and better teams going out because they play teams that are similarly fighting to qualify. It's such a mess. Like a fucked up version of the NFL.

rob1966 · « **Reply #25 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:04:22 pm »

When are the games in Qatar scheduled for?

Geezer08 · « **Reply #26 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:06:23 pm »

Shit idea! Fuck UEFA, someone said on a podcast that football needs saving from the people “trying” to save football.

If its one big league, but all teams doesnt play against all teams, how do then determine “strength of schedule”?

Phineus · « **Reply #27 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:08:02 pm »

This sounds rubbish.

Let’s win it again before it changes as doubt I’ll be arsed watching City and Newcastle play in a final in Qatar in a few years

Dave McCoy · « **Reply #28 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:14:05 pm »

Don't really understand those that are saying the group stage is fine. The knockouts should be left as is but the group stage is generally shit. There's usually one group out of eight where there are 3 teams from the top 5 leagues that is competitive and then the rest are usually cake walks for the bigger teams. Out of the 16 teams that advance there have been years now where all 16 are from the top 5 and most years it's 15. Maybe the new group format will suck, maybe it won't. I'm interested to find out as it certainly can't be worse than what it is now.

rafathegaffa83 · « **Reply #29 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:20:44 pm »

It's like they had a competition for the worst way to re-format a tpurnament. It'll be rejigged in five years

JRed · « **Reply #30 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:22:37 pm »

Quote from: Dave McCoy on May 10, 2022, 05:14:05 pm

Don't really understand those that are saying the group stage is fine. The knockouts should be left as is but the group stage is generally shit. There's usually one group out of eight where there are 3 teams from the top 5 leagues that is competitive and then the rest are usually cake walks for the bigger teams. Out of the 16 teams that advance there have been years now where all 16 are from the top 5 and most years it's 15. Maybe the new group format will suck, maybe it won't. I'm interested to find out as it certainly can't be worse than what it is now.

How can playing in a league where you don’t play all the teams ever be fair?
It’s absolutely ridiculous. Plus you may have to play the best team in the league away, whilst others play them at home. Again, how is that fair?

Dr Stu-Pid · « **Reply #31 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:34:58 pm »

Wouldn't this have been a great chance to rebrand the tournament and drop the stupid 'Champions' branding given that it will now include even more teams that aren't actually champions? They could have called it something really radical like, oh I don't know, the 'European Cup'.

Or if they want to keep 'League' in the title then there's a word that means 'really good' that they could have put in between 'European' and 'League'...

Red Beret · « **Reply #32 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:40:49 pm »

We're the last club to win all their first round games in the current format.

Is seeding/ranking going to be a thing in this new format? Will that determine whether you play a team at home, or away? Because that would suggest top tier teams get nearly all their games at home.

Skeeve · « **Reply #33 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:44:21 pm »

Quote from: JRed on May 10, 2022, 05:22:37 pm

How can playing in a league where you don’t play all the teams ever be fair?
It’s absolutely ridiculous. Plus you may have to play the best team in the league away, whilst others play them at home. Again, how is that fair?

If the league is seeded then the team that had to play us wouldn't have to play the 2nd to 4th best sides away, so things would even out overall.

Beyond the usual money-grubbing tendencies, this might not be a completely terrible plan overall as you'll have more games that are still meaningful by the time you get to the end of this group stage, unlike now where half of the top 2's per group might be settled after 4 games.

One obvious question, do the playoff losers then get yet another chance by dropping down to the el or has that finally been binned?

lobsterboy · « **Reply #34 on:** May 10, 2022, 05:58:04 pm »

Football, like the UK, gets shittier every day.

Dave McCoy · « **Reply #35 on:** May 10, 2022, 06:06:01 pm »

Quote from: JRed on May 10, 2022, 05:22:37 pm

How can playing in a league where you don’t play all the teams ever be fair?
It’s absolutely ridiculous. Plus you may have to play the best team in the league away, whilst others play them at home. Again, how is that fair?

You're already describing how the current CL is unfair for starters. Nobody plays every team in the league and plenty of teams could advance with the right draw but don't, where's the complaints about that?

As far as your second point, come back to me when there is one team that can legitimately say they would have otherwise advanced instead of another team because their game against us was at Anfield instead of their home stadium. I doubt it would ever come up for starters as over 8 games there's probably going to be more variance than just that one game. Lets also not forget that generally these teams advance into a knockout stage that is for all intents and purposes more of a coin flip on who advances vs. not, this isn't some 38 game marathon. And unless you have a perfect alternative I think we shouldn't be afraid to experiment and find a more entertaining use of the group stage.

FiSh77 · « **Reply #36 on:** May 10, 2022, 06:09:09 pm »

They'll be lining all the cannon fodder up to get fucked in the ass by the big clubs just to make sure it's more or less the same 16 who qualify for the knockouts every year

JRed · « **Reply #37 on:** May 10, 2022, 06:15:15 pm »

Quote from: Dave McCoy on May 10, 2022, 06:06:01 pm

You're already describing how the current CL is unfair for starters. Nobody plays every team in the league and plenty of teams could advance with the right draw but don't, where's the complaints about that?

As far as your second point, come back to me when there is one team that can legitimately say they would have otherwise advanced instead of another team because their game against us was at Anfield instead of their home stadium. I doubt it would ever come up for starters as over 8 games there's probably going to be more variance than just that one game. Lets also not forget that generally these teams advance into a knockout stage that is for all intents and purposes more of a coin flip on who advances vs. not, this isn't some 38 game marathon. And unless you have a perfect alternative I think we shouldn't be afraid to experiment and find a more entertaining use of the group stage.

I would imagine the seeding will mean the top clubs have even more chance of going through. So instead of the minnows having to maybe get a good result against one top club they will have to get results against 4 or 5 top clubs to get anywhere near the top 8.

rob1966 · « **Reply #38 on:** May 10, 2022, 06:18:21 pm »

Quote from: Dave McCoy on May 10, 2022, 05:14:05 pm

Don't really understand those that are saying the group stage is fine. The knockouts should be left as is but the group stage is generally shit. There's usually one group out of eight where there are 3 teams from the top 5 leagues that is competitive and then the rest are usually cake walks for the bigger teams. Out of the 16 teams that advance there have been years now where all 16 are from the top 5 and most years it's 15. Maybe the new group format will suck, maybe it won't. I'm interested to find out as it certainly can't be worse than what it is now.

Its ok for the likes of you and others watching on telly, but what about those who actually go the games? Those who travel have now got an extra away game in Europe to pay for and everyone has an extra home game to pay for. As for the clubs, we now have to squeeze 2 more games in between August and December.

Its shite.

Dave McCoy · « **Reply #39 on:** May 10, 2022, 06:24:31 pm »

Quote from: JRed on May 10, 2022, 06:15:15 pm

I would imagine the seeding will mean the top clubs have even more chance of going through. So instead of the minnows having to maybe get a good result against one top club they will have to get results against 4 or 5 top clubs to get anywhere near the top 8.

You should just look up how a Swiss model works first.

Quote from: rob1966 on May 10, 2022, 06:18:21 pm

Its ok for the likes of you and others watching on telly, but what about those who actually go the games? Those who travel have now got an extra away game in Europe to pay for and everyone has an extra home game to pay for. As for the clubs, we now have to squeeze 2 more games in between August and December.

Its shite.

Just like Villarreal subsidized their fans travel there is no reason LFC can't do the same which they should do. Hopefully SoS's involvement helps with that. They make so much money now that it would basically affect nothing.