With all the talk about the European Super League this week, much less fuss was made about the plans for the new Champions League format which will be introduced from 2024.
The group stage will consist of ten matches, with 36 clubs competing in a “Swiss Model” league format, and Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has spoken out against the changes, which will add even more fixtures to the calendar:
With all the Super League stuff going on… can we please also speak about the new Champions League format? More and more and more games, is no one thinking about us players?
The new UCL format is just the lesser of the two evils in comparison to the Super League…— Ilkay Gündogan (@IlkayGuendogan) April 22, 2021
Fans on Twitter, from all clubs, have rallied behind Gundogan, with many taking aim at the Champions League revamp:
Yes yes yes pic.twitter.com/KrbaR8O94Z
— Josh ??????? (@mcfc_joshua) April 22, 2021
#NoToUCLReforms
— Emilia :)) (@mcwfcwalsh) April 22, 2021
I agree Gundo the current format is better?
— El Kun (@ElKun890) April 22, 2021
ILKAY SPEAKING UP MY MIDFIELDER pic.twitter.com/6ChPXuLW9Y
— Aaron (@AarxnMCFC) April 22, 2021
Well said Gundo ??
— ?? (@KunMCFC) April 22, 2021
GUNDOOOO
— Jack ??? (@AgueroProp) April 22, 2021
Spot on pic.twitter.com/sB5i7dGG61
— Ben (@CitysEra) April 22, 2021
As Gundogan says, the additional games will only put extra strain on the players but, not only that, it will make the group stages far less interesting to watch. There will be teams sitting near the bottom of the league table with nothing to play for in the final few rounds of games. UEFA have confirmed that teams who finish 25th or below won’t even drop into the Europa League, raising questions about the number of dead rubber matches.
