Uefa Champions league format I consider good and like discussed

[Florea_Aurelian1984]

Hello,
In the previous months has been agreed at UEFA that 4 new match days will be added.
The currently leading proposed format is replacing the group stages with an sole group "swiss system" competition that will lead into the knock-out stages.
I like the sole group part. This adds flexibility to the schedule. One may add and remove match days easier without needing to do much work with the number of teams. Also the fixtures may be more balanced now, while groups were slaves to the draw.
The biggest problem I foresee though is the fact that big clubs don't play more games among themselves. This is what they want and this will bring more money. A second problem is that knock-out rounds may be unfair as a team that has a few missing players due to either injury or suspension may be knocked out by an otherwise inferior opponent. A small league is just better even if it is a single round robin. A third reason of protest is from the fact that smaller leagues find it increasingly difficult to approach the big leagues. There is an 36 clubs expansion but as a Romanian I don't see it as enough.

Here it is what I am proposing:
1. The UEFA Champions League is split in two sections, a red section and a blue section, each with their own teams and trophy.
2. Each Section will have 24 teams in a single swiss system group with 8 matches. This will constitute the regular season phase.
3. The top 10 clubs in the regular season phase play a single round robin with the top 5 playing an extra home game. This will constitute the championship phase of the season.
4. The teams placed 11 to 16 in the regular season phase of each section go to their respective UEFA Europa League sections
5. The UEFA Super Cup is played at the end of the current season rather than as a curtain raiser in the next, between the winners of the two sections. This is done for the fans to still acknowledge the best team of the season.
6. The UEFA Europa League is also split in two sections, a red section and a blue section, each with their own teams and trophy.
7. Each Europa League section will have 10 groups of 4 teams in the group stage. The winners and runners up play then(with the winners seeded) for 10 spots in the round of 16. The other six spots are supplied by the respective UEFA Champions League regular season phase.
8. It would be nice to create and UEFA Super Trophy for the 2 winners of the UEFA Europa League.
9. Entry list for UEFA Champions League:
Red Section Blue Section
Holder Holder
Europa League R Holder Europa League B Holder
1,4 from associations 1&4 1,4 from associations 2&3
2,3 from associations 2&3 2,3 from associations 1&4
1,3 from associations 5&8 1,3 from associations 6&7
2 from associations 6&7 2 from associations 5&8
1 from associations 9&12 1 from associations 10&11
2 wildcards 2 wildcards
3 champions path 3 champions path
1 non-champion path 1 non-champion path
10. If the holder or EL holder also qualifies through the league then the league spot is transformed into another wildcard. So overall there are between 4 and 8 prospective wildcards.
11. Wildcards are considered together so that no association has more than 6 teams overall. They are awarded to teams that have the highest UEFA coefficient without having qualified directly into the group stage. They are split in each section so to minimize the difference between the overall coefficient of the blue section and red section excluding the teams in the preliminaries. Also a section cannot have more than 3 teams from the same association.
12. Teams from the same association cannot play each other in the regular season phase of the UEFA Champions League or be in the same Group of the Europa League, or play against each other in the first knock-out phase of the Europa League.
13. The 42 champions of countries 13-55 (excluding Liechtenstein) are split into 6 groups of 7 teams according to their UEFA coefficients as following:
Group 1:1,12,13,24,25,36,42
Group 2:2,11,14,23,26,35,40
Group 3:3,10,15,22,27,34,38
Group 4:4,9,16,21,28,33,41
Group 5:5,8,17,20,29,32,39
Group 6:6,7,18,19,30,31,37
The 6 highest ranked teams would receive a bye in the first preliminary round. Otherwise each group plays two-legged QF,SF and F with the winner going the the regular season phase. Groups 1,4,5 winners go into the Red Section while groups 2,3,6 winners go into the blue section.
14. 8 second placed teams ranked 2nd in associations 9-16 play the non-champions paths. According to the UEFA ranking 1,4,5 and 8 play for the blue section while 2,3,6 and 7 play for the red section.

[Florea_Aurelian1984]

Nobody commenting here yet?

[Club-Mate]

a bit complicated but still manageable. However split broadcasting to conventional TV for red section and blue section just for Netflix with 4 quarters á 20 mins per match to attract younger people. So you create 2 seperate markets out of one product

[Florea_Aurelian1984]

Club-mate. I have though the money yet, but I think more games in a single round robin will generate more income.

[offside]

A second problem is that knock-out rounds may be unfair as a team that has a few missing players due to either injury or suspension may be knocked out by an otherwise inferior opponent.

Players suspended in an important match deserve to miss the next important match; and clubs have squads of like 25 players to deal with injuries.

A small league is just better even if it is a single round robin.

I disagree. KO rounds are great on my books.

[Wachtwoord]

A second problem is that knock-out rounds may be unfair as a team that has a few missing players due to either injury or suspension may be knocked out by an otherwise inferior opponent.

Players suspended in an important match deserve to miss the next important match; and clubs have squads of like 25 players to deal with injuries.

I'd prefer they add a 5 minute time penalty for yellow cards so the opponent against which the fould was committed has more of an advantage too.

It would have the positive side effect Keepers would be way more inclined to avoid excessive time wasting (if refs don't change what they do based on this new rule).

[lgu98150]

Interesting, I came at it from another direction - have a look at my post

[Florea_Aurelian1984]

I disagree. KO rounds are great on my books.

There are great and still happening in Europa League. But it is more fair to have a round robin.

[Florea_Aurelian1984]

Interesting, I came at it from another direction - have a look at my post

I think your solution has too many teams, especially in the conference league. Could you point out what it seemed interesting to you at my proposal.

[offside]

I disagree. KO rounds are great on my books.

There are great and still happening in Europa League. But it is more fair to have a round robin.

Well, it is matter of personal taste, I guess.

[lgu98150]

Interesting, I came at it from another direction - have a look at my post

I think your solution has too many teams, especially in the conference league. Could you point out what it seemed interesting to you at my proposal.

Florea_Aurelian1984,

Your solution has 88 teams, my solution has 96 teams playing in groups and a straight knockout for everyone else. My solution also has fewer games in total, removes the threat of elimination in July/August for the best 96 teams and has teams competing against teams of a similar calibre throughout - making for more exciting and unpredictable tournaments.

The idea of having two sections in each tournament is on I have not heard before. The gap in quality between the 1st ranked and 48th ranked team is quite big so the degree of competitiveness could be quite low in some matches. For example the 3rd team from France this past season (Rennes) only have a coefficient of 13.00 and only earned 1 point in the UCL but in your model woudl qualify right away while teams like Slavia Prague, Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb would have to play 6 matches to qualify despite having a stronger European pedigree.

Best wishes,

GB

[Florea_Aurelian1984]

@Igu98150
My solution has 128 teams actually, 80 in Europa league and 48 in champions league. I think there have to be some preliminary rounds of otherwise the national leagues will have more dead rubbers towards the end of the season! The idea of having two trophies is given by the fact that more and more teams need accommodating. Moreover the full round robin in the conclusion of the champions league gives the strongest clubs what they want. More games among them. The 48 clubs in the first phase of the champions league are fine as I see things as the extra clubs will mostly come from the top leagues anyway. Zagreb, Celtic and Slavia Prague come from small leagues though.