Premier league in a new format: Champions League – a new start into the unknown

More variety and more excitement, but also more games and more pressure: the new Champions League is a game in which everyone is making up their minds. The Bundesliga teams are more excited than excited.

Many at VfB Stuttgart would like to erase that March 17, 2010 from their memory. The Camp Nou, which was under renovation, once again saw Lionel Messi in top form when the Bundesliga club lost 4-0 in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against the Catalans, who were still led by Pep Guardiola at the time.

Jens Lehmann in goal, Sami Khedira in midfield and Cacau in attack were not good enough on the other side. For the Swabians, it felt like an indefinite farewell to the Champions League, but now their comeback will take them straight to Barça’s arch-rivals and defending champions Real Madrid (Tuesday 9 p.m.).

Many of the almost 15,000 VfB fans want to wear T-shirts with the inscription: “Stuttgart international – after all this shit, it’s time to travel.” The runner-up is attracting interest from the Bundesliga, which was recently rewarded for its good performance with a fifth place on the grid, with Borussia Dortmund expected to be the Champions League finalist, who started at Club Brugge (Wednesday, 9 p.m.). Before that, FC Bayern will play against Dinamo Zabreb (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), then Bayer Leverkusen will play against Feyenoord Rotterdam (Thursday, 6.45 p.m.) and RB Leipzig will play against Atlético Madrid (Thursday, 9 p.m.).

Long way to Munich

A total of 189 matches are needed to determine the new Champions League winner. The final will take place in Munich on May 31, 2025. That is why Bayern board member Max Eberl must say: “I’m excited. I’m already feeling itchy.” His coach Vincent Kompany knows that the premier class is the benchmark for a coach at the record champions.

Clubs such as Paris St. Germain, Manchester City, Juventus Turin, FC Barcelona, ​​​​Real Madrid and FC Arsenal are considered to be the first contenders for the trophy alongside Bayern. It cannot be prevented that the usual suspects will be on the so-called “Road to Munich” in spring at the latest. are among themselves, but Slovan Bratislava, Sturm Graz, Young Boys Bern and Shakhtar Donetsk also have at least hopes of a knockout round – even if it is only the new playoffs.

Biggest reform since 1992

The competition has finally undergone the biggest reform since it was named in 1992, when the European Cup was transferred to the Champions League. The European Football Union UEFA, which has been under massive pressure due to the Super League aspirations, has spent a long time working with the powerful club association ECA to find a format that would bring in significantly more games to increase revenue, but at the same time counteract the impression of dilution.

Nobody knows for sure whether the league system has learned to be a successful model. It is undisputed that the European Cup will have an even greater presence in the public eye due to the expansion to even more dates. Bayern’s CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen was one of the clear supporters: “The idea behind it is that we no longer have the ‘dead games’ at the end of a group phase, when the top two teams are already determined after four match days. I’m actually hoping for more excitement.”

Exclusive appointments bring more Marketing opportunities

In addition, having eight different opponents seems to provide more variety, as many of the eight groups of four previously seemed too predictable. The fact that the first Champions League matchday is spread over three days and the Europa League and Conference League have to wait another week before kicking off shows how great the need for recognition is for the moneyed elite. Even more exclusive showcases bring better marketing options. The previous spotlight was clearly not enough – and the profits were even less.

UEFA has recently earned an impressive 4.4 billion euros from the European Cup competitions alone, up from the previous 3.5 billion. Almost 2.5 billion goes to the clubs in the Champions League. The guaranteed sums for regular participants have long been so high that they provide a blatant competitive advantage. There cannot be enough solidarity payments to even out this gap in the national leagues.

Carlo Ancelotti finds the schedule too demanding

To eliminate a dozen teams, 144 of the 189 matches are needed by the end of January. This takes a lot of energy over the winter, which is clearly lacking in a major tournament in the summer. The French, Belgians and English already seem exhausted at the European Championships in Germany.

On Monday (16 September 2024), another prominent critic, Carlo Ancelotti, appeared. “The schedule is too demanding”said the Real Madrid coach: “If the governing bodies do not consider that players are getting injured because they play too much, we have a problem.” He is in favor of fewer parties, um “more attractive competitions” to ensure.

Criticism of the busy schedule

Top players from England are also increasingly raising the alarm. “The schedule is completely crazy”complained the Portuguese Bernardo Silva. And the Swiss Manuel Akanji criticized: “You can’t just keep adding more games and expect everything to continue as before.” Only UEFA will somehow not acknowledge the connection – or at least not address it.

The players’ union FIFPRO has primarily targeted the world association FIFA for the Club World Cup in summer 2025, which was also squeezed into the calendar, and has filed a lawsuit, the outcome of which is still unknown. The German Football League (DFL) recently announced that it would like to be more involved in the calendar design.

Far too late, as FIFA and UEFA have already tied everything down for the next few years. It seems to be a pure illusion that there could be less after that. Everyone benefits too much from the machinery for that. Recently, there was also a movement games association founded in 1893 in the capital of Baden-Württemberg.