Bring back the past (?)

[unclesox]

Do you like the way UEFA formats it's club competitions today?
Or do you long for the days of pre-1992?

For the uninformed, there used to be three UEFA club competitions and qualification into each was simple to understand:
CHAMPIONS' CUP- Domestic league champions qualified (only one per country) along with the defending holders.
CUP WINNERS' CUP - Domestic Cup winners qualified (only one per country) along with the defending holders. If the Cup winner accomplished 'the double' by winning the league as well, then the Cup runner-up (aka losing finalist) entered this tournament.
UEFA CUP - Clubs that finished high in the league (besides league champs) qualified. The number of clubs a country could enter was based on past success by it's clubs in the previous five seasons, with a maximum of 4 clubs allowed to enter. (In England, the winner of the League Cup qualified automatically)
Also, the UEFA Cup Final was a two-legged affair.

Back then, All three tournaments were in the knock-out format and the draw for the 1st Round saw the 'successful' clubs seeded and thus were kept apart. But from the 2nd Round on, it was a blind draw. No "1st/2nd phase groups" like today's Champions' League.
And virtually all matches were played on Wednesdays, the 2nd legs taking place two weeks after the !st legs regardless of Round.


For me, I long for the good ol' days. League 'vice-champions' shouldn't be competing for the "CHAMPION'S" Cup. And I like the idea of Cup Winners having their own tournament.

[Mc.Nitro3000]

I like the format now as teams may not be as good as they were the season before. But I will be the first to admit that its pretty easy to get into Europe.

Champions League: Champions & Runners Up

[IASocFan]

With Italy and Spain having three teams in the quarterfinals, it's clear to me that they deserve to be there. I like the current method. I also don't care if they eliminate the second group phase to protect players.

[unclesox]

Originally posted by IASocFan
With Italy and Spain having three teams in the quarterfinals, it's clear to me that they deserve to be there.
But this is exactly why I don't like the current format. In the old days, the UEFA Cup was used as the measure of which country had the strongest league. Why should the Champions' League be used in this way? Only "Champions" should contest the "Champions' Cup".
I understand why UEFA changed the format - huge money and the 'Super League' fiasco - but it gets old seeing the same clubs reach the quarter-finals/semi-finals/final year after year after year after... :rolleyes:

[Lawmill]

Champions' League/European Cup should determine which team is the best in Europe.

To that end, I think the current format is far superior. The top leagues may have several teams capable of winning it all, whereas lesser leagues might have none. The knockout format also favors lucky teams over good teams.

it gets old seeing the same clubs reach the quarter-finals/semi-finals/final year after year after year after...
These are the best teams and it's a testament to the tournament's structure that Europe's top teams are, for the most part, consistently successful in the CL. The EC had far more teams that weren't very good, but got the right draw and made it far.

[Oscar]

I'm getting kind of tired of hearing about how the Champion's League should only host the champions of the different leagues, I don't think anybody can deny the Cup has gotten a lot better since the changes that have been made. Not only economically for the clubs, but also in the quality of the games.

It's like saying the World Cup should only be contended by the regional champions of the different confederations (since they are the best of their region, why should the others be allowed to play as well? :confused: ) it would make the Cup less exciting...and it would basically lessen the quality of the football played, because you aren't looking at the quality of the teams to decide who should attend, but from where they come from.

[SJJ]

I'll take the middle ground: I like the "big clubs play each other" of the current CL, but that first round (and sometimes the second) has a lot of uninteresting games, with lesser teams taking a good chuck of the spots.

Even if the top six countries got four bids each, that will leave eight "underdog" bids in the round of 32. But the top countries don't even get that, leaving a good number of no-name or such teams.

First, I like the fact that "cinderella" teams get into the main draw. But there are kind of a lot of them, and they play a lot of the games

So. I do like the multi-team format of the CL, but I would look at making the entire competition two-game knockout. Give the underdog teams a number of spots in the final 32, but they only get to play two games against somebody.

[AFCA]

Mixed feelings.

The current format does make the differences between the richer and less rich bigger IMO (although there are things that contribute more to this growing gap).

What SJJ says will make this even worse, and that's not what we should want.

[unclesox]

Originally posted by SJJ
... So. I do like the multi-team format of the CL, but I would look at making the entire competition two-game knockout. Give the underdog teams a number of spots in the final 32, but they only get to play two games against somebody.
I love the KO system.
Final match in Group Phase 2 between Deportivo and ManU! Need I say more?! :rolleyes:

I can't wait 'til next season's tournament. 2nd Round changes from Group Phase (4 teams x 4 groups) to 8 2-legged knock-out matches. If UEFA would only allow league champs and runners-up to qualify, I'd be in heaven. ;)