PARIS: A new era in European club football begins this week when the first games are played in the expanded Champions League amid curiosity about the rejigged format as well as growing concerns over an ever-increasing number of matches.

UEFA, the European game’s governing body, sensed the need for change at a time when the traditional group stage was becoming more predictable and the continent’s biggest clubs were threatening to break away and form their own Super League.

The result is a league phase featuring 36 clubs — four more teams than in the past — with everyone playing eight matches against eight different opponents, two more games than previously.

Opening night on Tuesday hits a high note.

Kylian Mbappe starts his quest for a first title with his third club, the record 15-time European champions Real Madrid that host VfB Stuttgart, the surprise runners-up in last season’s Bundesliga. Mbappe reached the semi-finals in 2017 with Monaco and were beaten finalists in 2020 with Paris St Germain.

UEFA has cleared its midweek schedule to relaunch the marquee club event over back-to-back-to-back nights — six games each through Thursday and the line-up will include a glamour tie between Monaco and Barcelona.

Ultimately, all 36 teams will be ranked from top to bottom in a single-league standing that finishes in January instead of traditional four-team groups that would end in December.

“In the end I think we came to a solution that will benefit all,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin told Britain’s Sky News recently when asked about the new format. “It will make a more unpredictable and more interesting competition. It is a great change.”

The top eight teams at the end of the league phase will advance to the last 16.

The teams placed from ninth to 24th in the standings will enter a play-off round to contest the remaining last-16 berths, while the bottom 12 teams will be eliminated.

There are greater financial rewards too, with the winners of the competition pocketing over 86 million euros ($95.3m) just in prize money, not including bonuses of 700,000 euros for every point gained in the league phase or income from television.

The draw has thrown up plenty of glamour ties throughout the coming months, including Paris St Germain meeting Arsenal and Manchester City, and Real playing Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool and Milan.

‘MIRACLE’ REMATCH

The new era starts with two 1645 GMT early kickoffs featuring three European Cup winners from the 1980s — Juventus (1985) host PSV Eindhoven (1988) and Aston Villa (1982) travel to Young Boys. Both are first-time fixtures between the teams.

Also playing are the four teams with the most European Cup and Champions League titles in their 70-season history.

While Real play Stuttgart in the first-ever meeting of the sides, six-time winners Bayern host Dinamo Zagreb looking to extend a 40-game, seven-year unbeaten run in group stages.

The standout pairing is AC Milan against Liverpool at San Siro. Milan won the last of their seven European titles in the 2007 final against Liverpool. That was a rematch of the 2005 “Miracle of Istanbul” final when Liverpool rallied from 3-0 down at half time to win the fifth of their six titles.

A more recent rematch of another Istanbul final features the current champions of England and Italy. Manchester City, riding Erling Haaland’s hot start to the season, host an Inter Milan side they beat 1-0 in the 2023 final and are unbeaten in Champions League home games for six years.

It is also a night for fresh faces. Girona, who are in the same Abu Dhabi-backed ownership group as City, will make their European debut at PSG.

Bologna host Shakhtar Donetsk in its first game in the competition since a preliminary round exit 60 years ago. Bologna still play in the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara that has been their home since 1927 and staged games at the 1934 World Cup.

Last season’s Europa League finalists will also rise together to the bigger stage on Thursday.

Bayer Leverkusen’s only loss in a remarkable first full season under coach Xabi Alonso was that Europa final against Atalanta. Now Leverkusen return to the Champions League at Feyenoord, whose coach last season Arne Slot took the job at Liverpool that was first offered to Alonso.

Atalanta host Arsenal who have lost captain Martin Odegaard to an ankle injury suffered playing for Norway.

The expanded competition also has room for a meeting of two historic names when former champions Red Star Belgrade and Benfica face off in Serbia.

In addition to that, there will be an encounter between French newcomers Brest and Austrian champions Sturm Graz, hardly the kind of tie normally associated with the European elite.

BREATH OF FRESH AIR?

It may well prove a success, a breath of fresh air that the competition needed in its early stages, especially as final positions in the league phase will determine seedings in the draw for the knockout rounds.

But there are concerns about the impact on players of the extra matches, especially in a season which will finish for top clubs with the first edition of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.

“Sometimes something new can be good for the competition and for everyone, but what we struggle to understand is the increase in the number of matches,” admitted Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, mindful of the potential added injury risk to his players.

Global footballers’ union FIFPro said earlier this month that the sport’s governing bodies were “failing to meet their duty of care” towards players by denying them sufficient rest and imposing extra games.

FIFPro said too many players were already playing too many games, but the possibilities for time off appear to only be decreasing.

“We need safeguards for players to limit their travel, ensure rest periods, and provide adequate recovery so they can reach peak performance,” said Stephane Burchkalter, FIFPro’s acting General Secretary.

For now, the demands are only getting greater, and in the case of the Champions League it remains to be seen if bigger means better.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2024