Can’t see the whole article, but if it’s one league of 32 do the top 8 then go into a knockout?
If thats the case I quite like the sound of it, sounds much more interesting than the current group stage.
Uefa is to hold talks this week on a proposed new Champions League format that would involve clubs playing ten different opponents in the group stage in a dramatic shake-up of the competition.
The “Swiss system” is understood to be Uefa’s favourite among several proposed reforms of the competition and an answer to the threat of a breakaway super league as it would lead to more group matches between teams from the big European leagues.
The model, to be used from 2024, would mean four more Champions League matches a season than under the existing system where there are six group games, putting more pressure on the fixture calendar. It would almost certainly mean English clubs in Europe would have to drop out of the League Cup and possibly result in an end to FA Cup replays.
Although the proposed new format may be complicated for fans to grasp initially it has the benefit of allowing more matches between the bigger teams and fewer meaningless group matches.
The “Swiss system” is often used in chess and other sports, and would mean 32 or 36 clubs in a single division. They would not all play each other, but a random draw would select ten matches — five at home and five away — for each club against opponents of varying strength based on seeding. The existing system has 32 clubs split into eight groups of four who play each other home and away.
The points from those ten matches for each club would be registered in a single league table, from which the top 16 would progress to the knockout rounds. The top club would play the team who finished 16th and the second-placed team play the one that finished 15th, and so on.
Significantly, the European Clubs’ Association (ECA) and the European Leagues organisation both think that there is potential merit in the Swiss system. It is understood there is confidence that the format would be even more attractive to broadcasters due to a more exciting group phase.
Uefa is expected to present details of the proposed new model to European football officials over the next two weeks.
“Although it might be more difficult for fans to understand at first, another advantage is that the group stage should be much more exciting than it is now. Every match should be significant because every place in the top 16 will be valuable in terms of the opponent in the next round and in terms of prize money.
“There is also an incentive of being in the 17th to 24th positions as they would go into in the Europa League knockout rounds.”
David Gill, England’s Uefa vice-president and treasurer of the European governing body, has declined to discuss the reform options but said that there were
some “exciting” proposals and raised the question of whether Premier League clubs in Europe could still play in the League Cup if there are four more European matches.
He told
The Times last week: “The FA has already reduced the number of FA Cup replays, [but] what happens with the League Cup? That question has been around for many years, and can compensation be looked at to help the EFL clubs? Why not look at that and perhaps exclude the teams competing in Europe and only have the other domestic teams playing?”
Gill also stressed that Uefa was determined to ensure that qualification for the Champions League remained overwhelmingly via domestic competitions.
Lars-Christer Olsson, the chairman of the European League group covering 29 nations, said the Swiss system would be more acceptable than that put forward by the ECA in 2019 calling for four groups of eight clubs, meaning 14 group games.
“The new proposals are much more realistic than the one in 2019 but what is important is protecting the access list to all the European competitions and ensuring the gap in financial distribution is not widened between the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League,” Olsson said.
How the ‘Swiss system’ could work in the Champions League
● There would be 32 or 36 teams in one division that is split into four pots of seeds
● A draw takes place to allocate opponents for each club to play ten matches. A top-seeded team would face two other top seeds, three each from pots two and three, and two more teams from the fourth seeds. Half the matches would be at home, half away.
● Results feed into a league table of all 32 teams with the top 16 going through to the knock-out rounds. The top of the league would play the team finishing 16th, second place v 15th and so on. The eight teams finishing in 17th to 24 places would go into the Europa League knockout competition.
● The final semi-finalists (or quarter-finalists) would qualify automatically for the following year’s Champions League.
The Times used a random draw generator to draw up potential opponents for two English clubs based on the seeding pots for this season’s Champions League (no English opponents permitted). It produced this outcome:
Liverpool (pot 1) would have matches against Real Madrid (pot 1), Paris Saint-Germain (pot 1), Borussia Dortmund (pot 2), Shakhtar Donetsk (pot 2), Ajax (pot 2), RB Leipzig (pot 3), Lazio (pot 3), Krasnodar (pot 3), Club Bruges (pot 4) and Rennes (pot 4).
A random draw for Manchester City (pot 2) would result in matches against Bayern Munich (pot 1), Porto (pot 1), Real Madrid (pot 1), Barcelona (pot 2), Borussia Dortmund (pot 2), Dynamo Kiev (pot 3), Inter Milan (pot 3), Lokmotiv Moscow (pot 4), Borussia Mönchengladbach (pot 4) and Ferencvaros (pot 4)
