The Champions League is the football tournament that stirs the most passion worldwide. soccer is the most widely practiced sport on the planet, and that grants it a unique audience; no other discipline matches it.
And it features the best teams on earth, those that compete in Europe and boast the finest players on the globe. The quality, the talent, the intensity seen in those duels is rarely perceived in any other competition.
With all these factors in mind, organizers keep innovating to try to give fans the best possible experience in every match, regardless of the round in which it is played.
That is why they decided to transform the competition with a calendar that would allow teams with theoretically smaller squads to keep advancing through the phases of the tournament in an attempt to reach the final and fight for the title.
Now matches can be seen where the battle to secure three points is vital. Both teams fight until the very last second, literally, to claim victory. That was the case, for example, with Benfica. Goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin went up to attack Real Madrid’s goal in the 98th minute, already in stoppage time, to see if the goal would come; and it did.
With that strike, the Portuguese side secured its place in the knockout round to try to move into the stage that shapes the best teams. The confusion, however, was present because the goalkeeper himself was not sure that his goal had given his team that opportunity.
The possibility of a playoff-style UEFA Champions League like the NFL
Or at least, that is what would be sought, according to ESPN, which is the outlet proposing the idea. The suggestion is that the UEFA Champions League adopt a system that divides rivals into two large conferences, just as happens in the NFL, with the NFC and the AFC, fighting their way into the postseason and deciding the champion in the final.
What they argue in the analysis is that instead of having 36 teams fighting for a place and reducing them to 18 to battle in the round of 32, they could fight for the title. The idea here would be to place 24 sides, twelve per section or conference, or whatever they may call it, and among them earn a place in the final.
From there, instead of facing rivals based on their position, a draw would be held that would place every team in position to face anyone. But having key phases in the initial round would give greater intensity to the matches, because only two spots per group would be guaranteed, which would heighten the excitement.
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