A 48-club Champions League

Discussion in 'UEFA and Europe' started by shizzle787, Jun 4, 2017.

  1. shizzle787

    shizzle787 Member

    Apr 27, 2015
    Connecticut
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #1 shizzle787, Jun 4, 2017
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2017
    So many smaller nations are in favor of a 48-club Champions League (ok, so maybe only Celtic's brass have openly claimed so) but it is something that should be discussed. With the EPFL and UEFA butting heads and UEFA President Ceferin trying to level the playing field, I believe a 48-team competition should be considered starting in 2021. Here's why: 1) more revenue, 2) more variety, and 3) shorter qualification.

    I would propose an 8 group format with 6 clubs per group. 10 matches would be played in the group stage and the top two in each group would advance to the Round of 16. So in total, there would be 17 matches to win the competition (four more than now). How would these matches be fit in? By playing the Round of 16 over two weeks instead of four and condensing the group stage slightly in the fall.

    It would be important to note than any club eliminated does not drop down into the Europa League at any point and is eliminated entirely from Europe.

    It should be noted that the runners up of leagues ranked 10-15 would no longer qualify for the competition as they are not from larger leagues or champions.

    The 36 automatic group stage participants (league ranks in parentheses):
    CL title holder
    EL title holder
    Champions (1-13)
    Runners up (1-9)
    Third (1-7)
    Fourth (1-5)

    The 12 other clubs come from the champions only qualifying path containing two rounds:

    2nd Qualifying Round (24 clubs):
    Champions (14-20)
    17 winners from previous round

    1st Qualifying Round (34 clubs):
    Champions (21-55, excluding Liechtenstein)

    The Europa League would be the exact same format and would now only have two clubs per country to reduce costs and make the competition more elite.

    The 24 automatic group stage participants:
    2 clubs (1-8)
    1 club (1-16)

    24 clubs come through qualifying which is comprised of two rounds:

    2nd Qualifying Round (48 clubs):
    1 club (9-19)
    37 winners from previous round

    1st Qualifying Round (74 clubs):
    2 clubs (20-31, 33-55)
    1 club (17-19, 32*)

    *Liechtenstein only gets one berth, its cup winner.

    I must admit that there are two cons with this format: extra matches and potential dead rubbers in the group stage.

    As far as extra matches, the Champions League used to have 17 matches in the early 2000s so it has been done before, and this would incentivize Italy and Spain especially to shrink their domestic leagues from 20 to 18 clubs which has been discussed and promoted in these countries.

    As far as dead rubbers is concerned, that is not as much of an negative issue as the positive issue of revenue gained by the 48 clubs qualifying.
     
  2. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In order to have 10 Group Stage matchdays, they would need to start earlier or there would have to be matchdays on consecutive weeks. Currently the gap between Group Stage matchdays is 1 or 2 weeks depending on if national teams play in between. 2 out of 6 clubs advancing would make too many meaningless games for the top clubs, who wouldn't want so many games against lesser clubs, and the bottom clubs, who would have no chance at advancing. Currently most of the Pot 4 clubs at least have hope they can finish third to go to the Europa League. I don't like how many champions will need to go through four qualifying rounds starting in 2018-2019, but I don't want more clubs in the Group Stage. There would be more times where the top clubs wouldn't use their best players in a Champions League game that was easier than their domestic league game before or after.
     
  3. tobiastony

    tobiastony New Member

    FC Porto
    Portugal
    Jun 13, 2017
    very bad!
     
    unclesox repped this.
  4. Alfie George

    Alfie George New Member

    Liverpool
    England
    May 29, 2017
    I just read at FootballPulp that Real Madrid are about to sign Mbappe. Zidane apparently had a meeting with Mbappe and gave him assurance a place in the starting XI week in week out.
     
  5. UnionJackAccounts

    UnionJackAccounts New Member

    Liverpool FC
    England
    Aug 6, 2017
    I'm not one for this system sadly.
     

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