UEFA Champions League is like the World Cup of club football. It also features group matches which eventually goes into knockout rounds. The only difference is that the knockout rounds of the Champions League are two-legged affairs except the final.
Both the teams play one home and away match and the aggregate score is taken. If the aggregate score happens to be a draw then the team with the highest no of away goals are declared the winner. Even then if there is a draw then the match goes into extra-time and eventually into penalties.
But due to the Coronavirus pandemic, UEFA decided to have a ‘Final Eight’ tournament in Lisbon, Portugal. All the matches were one-legged affairs.
This new format has created massive interest and excitement among the fans. So UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said that this season’s Champions League format could as well continue in the future.
Ceferin told Reuters: “I have to say that this system of one match seems more interesting to me than the other system with two-legged matches. It’s one of the interesting things that was brought by this pandemic.”
“We had to do a system like that. We had to play this way, but at the end, we see it’s a very interesting system.”
He further added: “Now, it’s quite complicated to place a final eight in the calendar.”
“But we saw that people want exciting matches, that in one match, every team can beat every team in Champions League or the Europa League. So it’s something to consider for the future … I think in September or October, we have to start to seriously speak.”
“Even though you have less matches, the value can be higher if promoted properly. I see my friends from football and out of football calling me and texting me and they are all extremely excited about this system”.
This season’s format of the Champions League and Europa League has been a hit with the fans. So UEFA are seriously considering to think about replacing the old format with this season’s one.
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