Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: UEFA, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup
Tom Marshall-Bailey
UEFA are giving serious consideration to one of the biggest rule changes in the history of the Champions League in an attempt to try and condense the amount of football for elite professionals.
This season's Champions League has seen a new format introduced with the inclusion of the league phase for the first round of the competition, which has replaced the traditional group stage.
The controversial change has seen two added matchdays, with clubs now required to face eight different opponents across as many matches in an attempt to try and qualify for the round of 16 by finishing in the top eight of the extended league table of 36 teams, with the teams ranked ninth to 24th then battling it out in a knockout round to join the other eight clubs in the final 16.
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It is too soon to assess the impact of the change to the tournament but the increased number of matches is of concern to players and managers who have been vocal about the increase in football, particularly with the revamped Club World Cup, which will feature 12 European clubs, taking place at the end of this season.
And with that in mind, UEFA are considering another radical change to the format of the Champions League in order to reduce the amount of football being played.
According to a report in the Guardian, the prospect of removing extra time from knockout-round matches has been discussed and is 'gathering speed', with matches instead going straight to penalties if they cannot be settled over two legs of 90-minute matches.
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The current TV rights cycle isn't due to elapse until 2027 and therefore it is considered unlikely that any change will be enforced until the 2027/28 season at the earliest but it has not been definitively ruled out.
It is the latest move to try and deal with increased fixture congestion for the top clubs but the first in European competition, with domestic competitions the first to make concessions such as the controversial decision to remove FA Cup replays.
Taking away extra-time periods from the latter stages of the Champions League would follow on from the decision to scrap an additional 30 minutes from the UEFA Super Cup, which was introduced in 2023 and would be the most significant amendment to individual knockout ties since UEFA opted to abolish the away goals rule in 2021.