Comments on: The UEFA Champions League Needs a New Format

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:23:11 +0000

Soccer does not work as a single elimination sport…..

One, massive bracket, is a horrible idea. I hate to side with the G-14 teams, but they have a good point.

On any given day, any team can beat any other team. This is true in most sports, but its even more true in soccer because its such a team oriented, fan-influenced, momentum dependent, and sometimes yes, luck-driven, sport.

UEFA has decided to combine the best of both worlds. They have a group stage so that a team can get unlucky in one game but not be completely out of it. They have a knockout phase for the last 16 teams to give everyone a taste of single elimination, but with the exception of the final, each tie is a 2-legged affair, so its a hybrid style of single elimination.

In my opinion, UEFA has it right. In soccer, the cream rises to the top in the long run. Single elimination tournaments have their place (FA Cup, Carling Cup), but for the only and most important top-level European competition, you need a group stage to give the top teams a chance to establish their dominance. Anyone who thinks otherwise is merely rooting for surprise upsets and is not interested in fairly determining the “best team in Europe.”

And one more point for you — trying to Americanize soccer is a huge mistake. Look at the MLS. The entire MLS regular season means nothing. As long as your team doesn’t entirely tank, they are going to be in the playoffs. And then that’s when the real competition begins. In my opinion, the MLS would benefit majorly from adopting a British tiered league system. They already have the USL, which would be a viable Tier 2 league to relegate to and promote from.

I have talked to a number of MLS coaches, officials, and players about this. I haven’t met anyone yet who disagrees with me.

By: joel

joel — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:54:10 +0000

Mike,
the typical European fan cares way too much about domestic competition to ever let that happen. Soccer is so much more decentralized than American sports. You just can’t throw out the domestic competitions in one fell swoop.

By: Mike White

Mike White — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:50:12 +0000

I can see it now…30 or so weeks of regular season continent-wide, all leading up to the UEFA selection show. The single elimination, the worldwide brackets being printed out, the agony of fans as their darkhorse to win it all, 4th seeded Stuttgart, is upset in the first round by 13th seeded Olympiakos in extra time. I would love to see that day. Unfortunately, I doubt the big clubs would let that day come.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 04:49:14 +0000

That would be absolutely badass. If UEFA could clear a six-week space where the C-League and nothing else was being contested, that would rock even harder, though that would be a little difficult to pull off.

By: The Run of Play

The Run of Play — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:42:38 +0000

UEFA v. The G-14: The Short History of a Pointless Disagreement…

European football should emulate the NFL, or possibly NCAA basketball….

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:49:08 +0000

I have one very large problem with this. If you make Cup competitions all knock-out like that, then those teams which participate in them run the risk of potentially having their best players receiving nasty nagging injuries from being forced to compete nigh-constantly.

I understand that the potential format change will bring “excitement” back to the competition, however I do not feel that it is worth risking the health of your best players to get that.

By: Daily Dose 11.09.07 - World Football - The Offside - Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the world

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:31:23 +0000

[...] Time for a new Champions League format? (Dave’s Football Blog) [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:53:48 +0000

Hey Dave great website!

Everyone except the G-14 wants a return to the days of a knockout European Cup. If UEFA ever made a move to get rid of the group stage, we’re see that abomination of a European Super League where all the financial super-clubs break away and create that NFL of Europe that you talked about earlier this week.

Thankfully, you’re weren’t watching football back when the Champions League had two successive group stages. What a bore.

-Chris (from D.C.)

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:40:19 +0000

Yes, and I’m saying it’s high time that they went back. Take 64 clubs, seed ‘em and let ‘em go. It would make things much more interesting.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:36:31 +0000

Dave, they originally had an all knockout tournament, the European cup, but UEFA caved into the big clubs demands and created group stages.