As reported by The Athletic, the Champions League is set for a major revamp, with governing body UEFA thought to be on the brink of approving plans next Wednesday.
The Champions League is the greatest club competition on the planet, so making major changes to it, and thus threatening its brilliance, is likely to be met with a certain degree of resistant in the football world.
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Nonetheless, The Athletic detail UEFA’s intention to push forward with their plans to increase the number of teams in the competition from 32 to 36, and the number of group games from six to ten.
The report details a shake-up in the determination of who progresses into the knockout round, with the top eight performers all safely through and the following 16 to enter a playoff face to determine whether they will progress or not.
Interestingly, as mentioned in the report, there appears to be intention to offer “safety net” qualification places to major European heavyweights who have failed to quality via finishing in the necessary places in their respective divisions.
That would, for example, see Liverpool still enter the competition next season, even if they were to finish fifth this year.
The Athletic report the plans are up for approval next Wednesday, with the forms not to become active until 2024.