Five Talking Points From The Newly Formatted UCL League Phase

With the league phase of the newly formatted UEFA Champions League done and dust, the focus now turns towards the draw for the knockout stages. 

After the completion of a long and tedious league stage that saw eight teams walk straight into the Round of 16 while 16 others await their fate in the Playoff Round draw, there are a few key talking points that we’d like to discuss from the recently concluded league stage. 

Safety net for the big clubs

The new 36-teams league format of the Champions League provides a safety net for the bigger clubs. Clubs like Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, who would have otherwise struggled for qualification, have made it into the playoff round and can get through to the next round at the expense of a higher seeded club. 

In the old format, only 16 out of the 32 teams would make it through to the next month. But this new format rewards mediocrity by offering a life-line to clubs struggling for consistency. 

Manchester City, for example, won just three games – against Sparta Prague, Slovan Bratislava and Club Brugge – and still qualified for the next round. Slovan Bratislava finished 35th in the table, Sparta Prague finished 31st and Club Brugge scraped into the playoffs by finishing 24th. The way City played throughout the competition, they probably deserve to be out. But UEFA has built in a safety net for the big clubs with the sheer volume of games, and City managed to save themselves by the skin of their teeth.

A slow burner

The new format has been a little bit of a slog. There’s nothing wrong with trying to revamp the format, but I’m not sure adding loads more games was the answer. More statement matches are always welcome because fans want to see Manchester City against Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool against Real Madrid. The flip side, though, has been a gruelling league phase with lots of meaningless games and very little jeopardy.

The league stage picked up pace by Gameweek 7 and 8, however, it shouldn’t have taken that long to become exciting. The early matchdays lacked intensity and jeopardy because the likes of Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich all made the mistake of thinking they could take it easy and cruise through, but they won’t repeat that mis-judgement next season. However, credit must be given to clubs like Celtic, Feyenoord and Aston Villa, though, for taking it seriously from day one.

More revenue for UEFA and clubs

Regardless of whether UEFA wants to admit it or not, but the driving force behind the new format was the increased revenue. In the old format, there were a total of 96 league/group stage matches. The new league stage format had a total of 144 matches played Throughout the league phase. Add to that the new playoff stage which adds 16 more games, the total number stands at 160. These 64 games bring in an additional 60+% in revenue for UEFA while the clubs – especially lower down the pecking order – enjoy an incredible revenue flow from the two additional league stage games. 

Extra workload on the players

The player fraternity took the hardest hit from the newly formatted Champions League. With most European countries having their calendar packed with domestic league and cup competitions, the two extra league phase games in the UCL put more pressure upon a player’s body. In the traditional format, the four-team group stage format would be wrapped up before Christmas, with the Round of 16 commencing from February and the two legs spread across four midweeks. 

In the new format, apart from the two additional league phase games, teams that finished in the playoff bracket will play in all four midweeks. The 16 teams will first compete in the Playoff Round during the first two midweeks. The eight teams progressing will then contest in the Round of 16 during the third and fourth midweek. With players already playing 50-60 games throughout a calendar year, these extra four games will do more harm than good on player welfare. 

The seeding system

Successfully functioning in Tennis for many years, the new seeding system in the Champions League does make the competition more intriguing and exciting for the fans. One of the benefits – at least for clubs – is that teams that finished in the top 8 won’t face each other until the quarter-finals. The likes of Liverpool and Barcelona won’t face Arsenal and Inter Milan until the semi-final – that is if they make it that far. 

However, the downside of this system is that underperforming giants like Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain could end up drawing against some of the top dogs in the Round of 16. As things stand, Liverpool or Barcelona could end up drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 while Atlético Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen despite their solid league finish could end up drawing Real Madrid or Manchester City in the last 16. 

That being said, the new system has also benefited the lesser known forces in Europe. This season, three Pot 4 teams have progressed to the UCL knockout rounds: Aston Villa, AS Monaco and Stade Brest. Under the old format, it took four editions for three teams to make it past the group stages. 

But this isn’t only about progress, it’s about being competitive too. Scottish club Celtic, who won one match in 12 in the last two editions and finished bottom of their group, secured knockout qualification with three wins and three draws, ahead of 2023 champions Manchester City.