The proposed European Super League (ESL) looked set to change football forever. The prospect of a breakaway league where the founding members could never get relegated seemed to shake the foundations of football competition to its core.
Luckily, fans worldwide revolted, and the clubs involved faced vicious backlash from their own supporters. The uproar seemed to sway the decision of these owners, and eventually, they wilted and put an end to the idea. Nevertheless, money still rules football, and the superpowers want to stay super powerful; is the new Champions League format all that different from the proposed ESL?
Number of Games
The ESL looked set to take on a league format, so too does the new 2024/2025 Champions League format. Teams are set to increase from 32 to 36, and they will ditch the eight groups in which they play the same team twice. The new rules will see them play ten games (five home, five away) against random opponents in the league. The top eight automatically qualify for the final 16, and teams placed 9th to 24th enter a playoff.
Confused? Well, it appears there will be a lot more games but not necessarily more outrageous results. The Champions League is known for delivering mouth-watering ties and unpredictable results. For example, Manchester City has probably been the best team in Europe since Pep Guardiola took over, but they’ve crashed out before the final every year to seemingly lesser opposition. If you’re betting on sites like Space Casino, they are the favourites once again as they are priced at 4/9 to win the competition, but anything can happen. With the new format, those mercurial results may be few and far between.
‘Big Clubs’ Qualification
The thing which caused the most ire among those opposed to the ESL was that the founding ‘big clubs’ could never be relegated. It seemed to be a method to keep lining the pockets of the already wealthiest clubs.
The new format looks to introduce a new Swiss-style system that ranks teams through UEFA’s coefficient. So, if you’re a ‘big club’ but have had a down season and didn’t finish in the top four qualifying spots for the Champions League, it’s possible to still make it due to results in years gone by. The whole system seems to be put in place to keep the big clubs in, even if teams like Atalanta or Leicester City earn a spot in the competition.
Money
The driving factor behind this decision, and most when it comes to football, is money. UEFA was heralded as the good guy in the fight against the ESL, coming down hard with possible sanctions. However, it appears that they were just doing that because they feared the loss of revenue that they might suffer. More games equate to more income, and it seems they don’t care about the teams or players in this instance.
The dismantling of the ESL was a pleasant sight to behold; however, UEFA and FIFA remain unchecked bodies, and without a third party being brought in to supervise affairs, those organisations can continue to do what they like with football.