UEFA President seduced by the establishment of a « Final Four »

Is the Champions League as we know it living its last hours? The format of the competition could in any case be brought to change, if we are to believe the words of Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA. In an interview with Croatian media Sportskehe claims to be seduced by the project to establish a « Final Four » but sees however some black points: « It’s a good idea, but you lose a few games »notes the Slovenian leader. « You’re not playing home and away, and there are fewer games for TV rights holders. It’s too early to share new ideas with the media, but there are plans. »

Last week the Times revealed that the association of clubs (ECA) supported this project. As a reminder, it had been set up from the quarter-finals, exceptionally in 2020, due to the Covid. This time, it is from the semi-finals that the format of home and away matches would be abolished. The four best European teams of the year would then meet in the same city to organize the semi-finals in a single meeting, before playing the final a few days later in the same place. Discussions should take place on the hypothetical introduction of this new format in the coming weeks. Another change in weight for the Champions League is already in place since the competition will take place with 36 clubs (instead of 32) from the 2024-2025 season.

CL