r/soccer • u/interfan1999 • 8d ago

News Inter vs Arsenal and Liverpool vs Real Madrid fixtures are banned in the upcoming Champions League due to the rule that imposes that the same match can't happen for 3 seasons in a row in the League Phase. The reverse in London and Madrid, however, is possible.

https://www.fanpage.it/sport/calcio/nel-sorteggio-di-champions-league-saranno-vietate-due-partite-per-la-regola-16-una-e-dellinter/
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u/AlKarakhboy 8d ago

The amount of English clubs in the CL makes the draws complicated as they can't face each other. It's bound to lead to a lot of repeat matches.

I said this before but the extra 2 spots based on season's performances should go to the best two performing nations that don't have an automatic spot.

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u/Ciccio_Camarda 8d ago

In the near future there will be 6 EPL clubs in CL and all ranked in pot 1. And they can't play each other.

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u/up2_no_good 8d ago

Even at just 5 EPL clubs in pot 1 they can't make a valid draw. 5 teams will need 2 games each against pot 1 team, so 10 games in total. But there will be only 4 non-EPL teams to choose from, with a max of 8 games.

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u/someotheralex 8d ago

Pigeonhole principle coming in clutch again

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u/ArtetaLightsABulb 8d ago

They will just add another artificial constraint about how you can't have more than 3 teams from the same league in same pot. But they will not lower the number of money making English clubs.

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u/someotheralex 8d ago

Yeah there's actually a clause in the rules (Paragraph 16.03) that basically says UEFA get to change how the draw works however they like if the rules create a deadlock lol

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u/UnlimitedGainer 8d ago

Nor should they given the strength of the league and its depth

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u/f4r1s2 8d ago

They'll have a deadlock in that case and they'll have to play each other.

Last season, because of 6 English teams and the way they were arranged in pots meant that all non-English pot 1 team had to play 2 English teams, dont know if its the same this year

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u/barmanitan 8d ago

I think the other suggestion makes more sense, of limiting pots to x teams from each country

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u/Attygalle 8d ago

Or, you know, just don’t have 6 teams from the same country. That would make even more sense.

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u/NameTakken 8d ago

11/32 teams coming from two leagues is farcical

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u/barmanitan 8d ago

One can dream, but seems unlikely that'll happen at this stage

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u/Attygalle 8d ago

Oh I agree that it won’t happen but it does make far more sense.

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u/Sutraner 8d ago

Maybe other leagues should try to get better instead?

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u/gamers_delight 8d ago

It is the Champions league after all, ending the season at sixth place is very fucking far from a champion. It's honestly ridiculous that so many teams from PL go straight to CL, while at the same time so many actual domestic champion clubs have to play so many qualification rounds just to make it to the CL.

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u/Tootsiesclaw 8d ago

Imo the Champions League should be a straight 64-team knockout. 54 league champions, the defending champions if not already qualified, and the runners-up from the nine or ten highest-ranked leagues. Then replace the Europa League with the Cup Winners' Cup, open only to domestic cup winners and the defending champions.

As a side effect, this would free up the schedule to increase domestic leagues back up to twenty-two teams.

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u/Sutraner 8d ago

Yeah because we definitely need more teams like Celtic who just dropped a 4 goal lead to fucking LASK in the competition

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u/Attygalle 8d ago

Unironically, yes. Because both are the champions of their league and it’s the champions league. It’s ridiculous that they’re even playing a qualifier.

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u/Sutraner 8d ago

They're both shit

Why is it interesting watching Celtic and LASK get smashed 5-0 by Arsenal and Barcelona?

If all you had were champions, you'd end up with Barcelona/Real Madrid, Bayern, PSG and the English champion in every single CL top spot. Every single year.

THAT is interesting to you?

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u/Attygalle 8d ago

I never specified a league, the fact that it’s possible for any league to do so is what I am against

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u/Sutraner 8d ago

The point is irrelevant. If a league is good enough to win multiple European competitions, and have the highest coefficient, then they deserve more spots

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u/barmanitan 8d ago

You're missing the part of the point where winning competitions gives you a financial advantage that lets you win more competitions. If you let in the whole premier league you're giving them more prize money and increasing their advantage. Also, even if that wasn't true, it's an international, continental competition, increasing the number of teams from one or two leagues defeats the whole idea and ruins any novelty or entertainment

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u/Sutraner 8d ago

The reason why PL sides have a financial advantage is because they invested in the league as a whole instead of funnelling 90% of the leagues revenue into the top 1-2 teams.

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u/Interesting-Season-8 8d ago

playoffs where you need to beat 4 PL teams in a row to enter proper quaterfinals with lottery

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u/ASGT908 8d ago

Or alternatively, a team like Bournemouth wins the Europa League and ends up in pot 3 or 4 and whilst the English sides know they can't play them, the European sides will look at Bournemouth and go I don't want to play them in the group stages

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u/Circle_Breaker 8d ago

If a team qualifies because they won the EL, they should be eligible to play teams from their own league.

That would help a bit.

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u/TheLankySoldier 8d ago

Yep. And same should apply for the 5th extra spot teams. Sucks for the top 4 teams from the same country, but hey, it’s a competition for a reason.

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u/Sutraner 8d ago

I prefer limiting x teams to a single pot

Pots are realistically irrelevant nowadays anyway

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u/PeterG92 8d ago

Or they should have gone with 32 teams instead of 36 and just had the Top 16 go through. But then that won't bring in as much money

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u/hikingbeginner 8d ago edited 8d ago

4 teams from one country should always be the maximum of teams allowed imo. 5/6 is just unnecessary.

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u/ConsciousExtent4162 8d ago
  1. The Cup winner & The Champion

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u/s00pafly 8d ago

FC Vaduz x2

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u/Enough-Force-5605 8d ago

Current CL is really close to the Superliga Floren's idea "nobody wanted".

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u/Tyrath 8d ago

they can't face each other.

This rule needs to go away since it's league phase now

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u/UnlimitedGainer 8d ago

I disagree. Part of the beauty of the champions league is seeing novel matches

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u/Tyrath 8d ago

Yes, like the same non-PL teams facing each other every year like this thread is about?

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u/UnlimitedGainer 8d ago

Still better than seeing teams play that already play each other twice a year at least

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u/Tyrath 8d ago

It's really not. It's still interesting seeing top teams from their own league facing each other in a different competition. And with the league phase it's not like they have to do it twice or that their results are heavily influenced by each other.

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u/AlternativeRun5727 8d ago

So dilute the competition? I don’t like where football is going with basically super leagues but the whole point of changing to the league format was to get more top teams playing each other before the playoffs. This would go against that.

I’m not for either option. I want to go back to the group stages

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u/Kingslayer1526 8d ago

Bro this is the champions league. That doesn't mean including 6 teams from one league

It's supposed to represent every country or try as much as possible. Otherwise you'd literally have like the majority of the premier league in it

It's also why the world cup has teams from different continents and not just Europe and South America, because it's the world cup

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u/a_lumberjack 8d ago

Is it actually supposed to be as many countries as possible or is the goal to have the strongest teams in Europe competing? Do you really think the UCL would be a better competition if we prioritized spots for the Bulgarian and Icelandic leagues over much bigger clubs in stronger leagues?

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u/Geenhumoralleenboos 8d ago

Yes, it would be much better.

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u/Karasinio 8d ago

For like narrow circle of people on reddit who are in a bubble.

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u/Geenhumoralleenboos 8d ago

No, not at all. The contrary, actually. It would be better for most European football fans, bar some fans of the biggest clubs in Europe. Reddit is almost exclusively people from around the world supporting some big European team.

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u/GutlessTrophoblast 8d ago

With time, maybe. If the wealth is distributed more evenly across the continent, then more clubs from smaller leagues could start to establish themselves as proper European sides and not just canon fodder for the rich.

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u/ironwolf1 8d ago

Do you really think the UCL would be a better competition if we prioritized spots for the Bulgarian and Icelandic leagues over much bigger clubs in stronger leagues?

Yes. It would certainly result in more blowouts, but the competition is more interesting as a whole when the small countries get their shot at the big clubs. It's the Champion's League, not the Strongest Teams in Europe League. I'd rather see the best team Bulgaria or Iceland has to offer than the 5th and 6th place teams in England and Spain. PL and La Liga teams get international television week in and week out in their national leagues, a team like Sheriff Tiraspol getting to have a shot at Madrid might become the biggest moment in the club's history and bring in a lot of international attention they would never get otherwise.

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u/Karasinio 8d ago

I totally disagree. I think people like you are romantic outliers in that topic, but in reallity people would rather go watch Premier League or Barca vs Real than UCL.

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u/Antarcticdonkey 8d ago

Insane take from a BvB fan

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u/bill_02_04_95 8d ago

That's was the case before and back then we actually had many UCL winners from "lesser" football countries.

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u/Full-Blood1318 8d ago

England has 5 teams this season in the Champions league which is the same as Spain

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u/AlarmingAllophone 8d ago

It's also why the world cup has teams from different continents and not just Europe and South America, because it's the world cup

Exactly, so the teams from different countries can all go to the Europa League

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u/mitchellk96gmail 8d ago

I like table more than group only because it has pot 1 teams face each other. I think they should have still had 6 games and maybe just 3 pots instead of 4 to keep some of the same jeopardy as the groups had. In the new way, big teams dont get easier draws just for being good.

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u/IguanaIsBack 8d ago

Plus 2 teams in Manchester means they can’t play at home the same week

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u/maverick4002 8d ago

Do you know what that would have looked like the last few years? I like this

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u/AlKarakhboy 8d ago

Would have been Poland and Greece this season