Your last point is certainly true, but I don't think two group stages is viable. It was tried and they got rid of it for presumably good reasons. As for "multiple top teams losing in the first round" if the R32 was a two-legged knockout, hmmm... I don't see that as being very likely. I think its the second-tier teams that would be a bit vulnerable. Teams like Arsenal, Man Utd, Porto, etc. But, hey, if you lose to Roma over 2 legs like Leverkusen did, then you probably weren't going to advance in a group stage anyway. But yeah, I recognize the problem of a situation where a team fights all season to qualify for the CL and are then eliminated after just 2 games. That is a fair argument for not having a knockout round in the R32. Of course there is a flip-side : if you get through that R32, you're guaranteed 6 matches against some of the very best in Europe.
I know it is going to be a little bit off. Just sent 4 application for CL final and 2 for Europe League final (with same names). What happens if all wins? Are they checkin IDs? And when are they going to deduct cards? They say until april 8th but they have already sent a memo emial (thx for application, etc) so may I except deduction in the following days?
I've been to a couple of finals via the ballot, and normally you get told if you are successful within a couple of weeks (probably a bit less), and the money will usually go out that day. They didn't check ID at either final.
Has anyone had their credit card charged for the Final? My friend's has, but mine has not.. Make things worse, two of my four application already gone because the credit card is no longer avilable and they will not change it on the application..
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/23/uefa-champions-league-revamp?CMP=twt_gu Two groups of eight with a total of 14 matches played per team sounds better than the current format. An extensive playoff round would occur prior to determine part of the final field of sixteen. Right now the top five leagues are Spain, Germany, England, Italy, Portugal, France. I could see it set up as follows. -The champions and runners up in Spain, Germany, England, and Italy get in automatically. The Portuguese and French champions also receive automatic entry. (10 teams). -The 3rd place team in Spain, Germany, England, and Italy enter the final playoff round. The Portuguese and French runners up enter the final playoff round as well (6 teams). -The 4th place finisher of the top four leagues and 3rd place from Portugal and France enter the 2nd to last playoff round to play against six champions of lesser leagues (Russia, Ukraine, Belgium, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Czech, Greece etc... the six would be determined in other playoff rounds). After these playoff round are concluded 6 total teams remain to play in the final playoff round. The 6 winners of the final playoff round along with the 10 automatic entries round out the field of 16.
You could end up seeing the following automatically get in. Barca Atletico Bayern Dortmund Juventus Napoli Leicester Tottenham PSG Benfica Real would very likely get in too along with 5 other teams qualifying through the final playoff round.
Two groups of 8 would be the death of European football. It would result in too many meaningless matches, no doubt with weakened teams when there's nothing to play for, for the sake of some extra cash.
Half the teams in each group would advance to the quarterfinal KO stage. It certainly could result in some meaningless matches toward the end, but it's also likely that the bottom teams could still be in position to advance if half the field does. Plus the current format produces far more meaningless and lower quality matches as well. It still rewards finishing as the domestic champion of the leagues as well as 2nd place.
Which will make the whole process rather meaningless and reduce interest. Look back to the double group stage and how interest picked up when it reverted to more knock outs. Also, 23 match days in total - 2 preliminary knock out rounds, 14 group matches and 3 final knock out rounds. How will that be scheduled with anything other than 16 team top divisions? Anyone not in the Champions league (or teams that fall out in the qualifying, and it's perfectly possible that could happen to a big team) loses out massively.
Two groups of eight where half the teams advance would only create meaningless matches if/when the bottom four in each group are mathematically eliminated. I'd think that quarterfinal match ups would depend on how the top four in each group end up. Group A winner v Group B #4 Group B #2 vs Group A #3 Group B winner vs Group A #4 Group A #2 vs Group B #3 So it would still be very important to finish as high as possible to avoid worse KO stage match ups. I think you are overstating how this format would produce too many meaningless matches. For the most part the majority of the matches will be important given that almost all teams should be in contention to advance seeing as half the field does. The field of 16 would consist of top strong sides most of which I imagine would be very good at home.
This is a very good point that others have brought up. Germany already has a top division consistent of 18 teams. It wouldn't be shocking to see more teams go down this road or have top flights that consist of even few teams (16-18). Then again perhaps national cups could be rework to also cut down on the number of total fixtures played by the top domestic sides (by having them enter later in the tournament). Right now there are 6 CL group stage matches. A team that advances all the way to the final will play a total of 13 games. In this potential 2018/19 format, the finalists would play a total of 19. Assuming that the top 16 teams in Europe could handle the additional load of playing more games in Europe (which arguably they should seeing as they have the squad depth to), domestic league and cup structures could be altered slightly to accommodate this. Yes this format will produce winners and losers, but it's better than going full on Super League with fixed team entry based on financial strength rather than merit. A 16 team CL makes finishing in that top two or even finishing as the domestic champions that much more important (not good for Arsenal fans out there!).
I'm sure Russia would be thrilled with only having one berth and that team starting three rounds out in qualifying when the French league (which is marginally better) gets two berths, one being automatic, and there is no automatic entries according to the papers.
There aren't 16 strong sides, there are more like 10. And, yes, there would be a gazillion meaningless matches. The 7th and 8th teams in each group would be out with 2-3 matches to go, and 6th would probably be out before the last match in most years so 3/8 of the teams have nothing to play for in the end. Also, teams could be locked into their position with a match or two to go (which happens when the number of games in a group stage increases).