Do you seriously think that a competition involving last years’ National League winners including Liverpool, Celtic, Connah’s Quay Nomads, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers, Juventus, Bayern Munich, PSG, Real Madrid, Club Bruges, Ajax, etc. would generate that much interest?
The reason that the Champions League replaced was that the UEFA Cup was in danger of becoming more difficult to win. The fragmentation of countries in Eastern Europe has weakened many of the likes of Red Star, Partisan, Dynamo Zagreb, Dinamo Kiev, Slovan Bratislava, Sparta Prague, etc.
It would become a totally one-sided borefest until the quarter finals (with seeding) or something of a lottery (without seeding). Try selling that one to the TV companies!
People pandering to some supposed ‘golden age’ will not wash. The football landscape has changed so much since the 1970s that it would never work.
The stupid thing was to call the new entity the Champions League . Had it been called something else, the argument would not be happening.