Totally agree. Makes me embarrassed to be Scottish. Shouldn't be anywhere near this panel. Hopefully they replace him soon with someone less negative and more knowledgeable (willing to read up on the rules). Frightening thing is, he gets paid to have an opinion on something he doesn't even understand!
I mean in Europe most people didn't fight back against the jab also remember ESPN is liberal AF. Lol all these "criticisms" y'all have against him is just being butthurt on stuff he says. Y'all need to get a life none of y'all no him irl no one knows what hes like outside of his little TV character...
@@OneOkRockSamurai the dude gets paid to have informed opinions on things but doesn’t bother to even research it!? I’m Scottish but this guy is inexcusable. Clown.
This model is way better.. It's the definition of a champions league..You need to play the big boys to prove you're the top dog not sneak behind the back thru small fodder teams.. Besides football needed something new
So are the small fodder teams no longer in the competition? The answer is they are still there and the big clubs will still have to play them. As for definition of a champions league? Bologna are champions of what exactly?
@@a-walpatches6460Swiss-system tournaments have been used in chess for a long time but never in European football. This seems like it was inspired by profitable American sports
Given that those 9th to 24th place s will have to play 10 matches (2 play-off games) makes it four more matches alone from Champions League. I think some clubs might end up playing weaker squads in either domestic leagues or even in Champions League at times 🤷♂
This new format is fantastic. There are so many big games now. For example, As a Dortmund fan we only played Barcelona once in 15 years. We finally get to play them this year.
Clubs like Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern and PSG facing each other should be a RARITY. Seeing them play each other on every UCL group day just saturates the product even more.
The new format seems very interesting to me! Gives us more "big games" early on (pot 1 teams being drawn to face each other which wasn't the cas before), is more fair to smallest teams (they have on average the same strength of schedule as the big teams since every team faces 2 teams from each pot), creates more insentives for teams to take every game seriously (seeding matters for the knock-outs AND you can still qualify for playoff round on a lower seeding), stops rewarding bad teams with a chance to win another trophy (no more UCL 3rd group teams going to EL knock-out stage), etc. The only downsides I can see are that it's more complicated to follow (which is gonna be fine, we'll get used to it I think) and adds 2 to 4 more games on an already packed schedule (that's honestly the only real problem I could find compared to the old format)...
It's just the format on paper and the draw that is confusing. Once the season is underway it's really easy to follow. It's a straight league table where the higher up you finish you will get a bigger advantage of playing a team from the lower part of the standings. So every single game of the 8 games each team plays will be important, no matter where in the standings you are.
Some people just hate change. I find this exciting. The only downside is more fatigued for the players, but now as squads are getting bigger It will give chances to young players and reserves in those smaller matches
They would have been much smarter to make it an actual Swiss format tournament. You start with seeding and a higher seeded club would face a weaker side but then after that you would after every match have a new draw where those that on the same match points play against one another and so on each round. This would give tons more top matches each round. Instead it is basically similiar to before where they play two matches against clubs from each seeded group no matter previous results in the tournament 🤦♂
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
UEFA had it right all along but their greed is in overdrive right now. Clubs like Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern and PSG facing each other should be a RARITY. Seeing them play each other on every UCL group day just saturates the product even more.
This is the most exciting format ever! So many big games before the last 16. I think footballers are one of the dumbest in understanding things! Craig and Stevie are prime examples of this. Poor Marcoti trying to explain this to these dinosaurs.
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
UEFA had it right all along but their greed is in overdrive right now. Clubs like Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern and PSG facing each other should be a RARITY. Seeing them play each other on every UCL group day just saturates the product even more.
if you read into the new format (most won't) it makes some sense. but that doesn't change the fact that it was pointless and unnecessary. couple that with the fact it just adds more games to an already PACKED schedule, and that people naturally hate change, the entire thing is a MESS
@@davismorgan99 well yeah, lol. I was kind of referring to the fans perspective of things, but money is the only real answer here. No one wanted this is what I was getting at.
@@nazimbelaidi6486 I can speak for the majority opinion. The fact is the majority were fine with the old format and didn’t even think about changing it. Congrats on being a minority hater, I guess.
@@ArthasDKRit is fine if not done at someone's expense like SuperLeague was planned...There are relegations ,promotions .It is not closed competition.
This model seems way better. A lot more big games and competition until the end to get the higher seeds. Craig and Stevie are just averse to change. It's more complex but it isn't rocket science.
But clubs like Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern and PSG facing each other should be a RARITY. Seeing them play each other on every UCL group day just saturates the product even more.
@@carpetbillyits just a league format now like the domestic leagues. Top 8 teams will qualify automatically while those from 9-24th place will go to playoffs from which other 8 teams will go through and the rest will be eliminated. From there on its the same knockout format as previous years. Its not hard to understand as craig put it out.
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
... because teams would stop qualifying through their domestic leagues! It would be the same teams forever... also no team outside of the 5-6 top leagues would be invited! This is very very far away from a Super League, no matter how you feel about the new format
But qualifying as a champion in you Home national league accounts for nothing now...see PSG fixtures in comparison to 2nd/3rd placed teams from other leagues and the resulting easier fixtures they got.
@@OGCHuila This is a totally different argument than what I was talking about. And the answer is yes, but remember that only the champions of big leagues had this advantage before. Was it fair? I’m not sure about that.
Good lord the way these lot go on you'd think its all written in some unknown alien language. It's really not that difficult to understand how this works.
I am really looking forward to this, especially the last matchday of the group should be crazy, all games at the same time, teams fighting for top spots, getting into top 8 or top 24, gonna be fun
Spot on mate 👌 There will always be a lot of crappy games, when they allow no. 2,3,4's into the tournament, no matter how the structure is. People can call me old schooler, but i prefer the old structure with only champions, and playing 2 games against eachother, then next opponent.
As a fan, its confusing. But seeing the fixtures, I absolutely love it. Players and coaches will find it tough but as fans it will be nice seeing big games early in the tournament
Let’s see how it actually plays out, but on paper it’s a horrible idea. They should bring back the old European cup format. I don’t care if I have to see Real Madrid thrash diddeleng 17-0. At some point it’ll balance out, and it’ll at least make it a winnable competition for smaller and medium sized clubs again.
@@Xenix73 THIS makes it a more winnable competition for smaller and medium sized teams. In the league stage, they’ll face on average the same strength of schedule as the big teams (when it was group stage, pot 1 never faced pot 1 but also pot 4 never faced pot 4)! Then on the knockout stage anything is theoretically possible, as it always has been! This stage is the same as the old European cup format and in fact under the same system as last year we got Porto winning over Monaco in 2004! There were “medium-sized teams” on the knockouts like every year! The reason no medium-sized teams are winning anymore is not the format but the widening gap between medium and large-sized teams in the last decade or so
I don't even talk about PSG's chances, but there's too many big fixtures. Liverpool gets Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, while Barcelona gets Bayern Munich. Those are quite banger compared to PSG!
It is NOT a Swiss System anymore. A Swiss System would have seen each matchday (except for the first 1 or 2) scheduled depending on the live standings.
@@raducora7159 A man of culture! Yeah, they should have called it “modified” Swiss system, but it doesn’t really matter! A true Swiss system would have been too complicated to implement I think
@@damienp6375 The main disadvantage would have been the short time between finding your next opponent and the match itself. Less time for advertising, planning trips for away fans, and so on.
I don't care how the new format works and I don't even have a clue yet but as long as i get to see the big teams face each other this early in the group stages, i won't complain
@@shawnmagma7090 And the worst Chelsea team in history was able to beat one of the best Bayern teams in history at their own backyard in a final. It's football and you understand it.
I think Craig and Stevie are too old school and don't see the incredible change in front of them. This is way more exciting and there's much more on the line than in the previous format. It effectively provides a beautiful solution against the super league
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
Ignoring why each team is in their respective pot, the basis is that every team has to play 2 teams from each pot but cannot play more than 2 teams from the same country and cannot play teams from the same league.
It's not that complicated but other than adding jeopardy to most matches it does more harm than good imo. The worst part about it is it's supposed to be one giant table/group but every opponent is playing a different set of fixtures and that's inherently unfair by it's very concept.
PSG cannot catch a break when it comes to the champions league as I guess they’re about to go another season without winning this competition. Out of all the elite teams, they have some very tough fixtures. In the new UCL format where they’re going to be playing 8 different teams (4 at home and 4 away), 2 teams from each pot, they have some difficult teams: Manchester City Bayern Munich Arsenal and Atletico Madrid. Good luck against those teams and the rest of the teams are favorable games for them, but given how unpredictable the champions league can be, there are games that could be difficult for them to cope with. Girona looks much weaker than last season especially since they lost 2 of their best players in the same transfer window, they’ve started this season off very slow, still regardless of how they’re playing they can give them a test, PSV RB Salzburg and Stuttgart could pose them some problems since even if people perceive them as weak teams, games aren’t as easy as you think they are at this level. If they’re able to get a result against one of the better teams even if a draw would be good enough for PSG and they take care of business against teams they should be beating, considering the quality of teams they’re going up against, they would be ok finishing 9th-24th since they’ll have to play a 2legged playoff tie in order to reach the knockout stages.
You have both made reasonable assessments on the situation Paris Saint-German find themselves. But it's becoming a bit much that's 3 seasons in a row to which PSG find their team in a Group of Death so called. With the involvement of A.I people will suspect preemptive algorithms preset to bend their ties in this direction. How does psg appear to face 4 challenging teams, while the other champions of their own national leagues face 2-3 on paper perceivable challenging fixtures.
What they've done is they've just added smaller teams to it that's all. If they really wanted top matches and big matches. They should take the top 7 from England, Spain, Germany and Italy and choose top 3 from France and Portugal and choose the league leaders and runner ups from the other top football nations, Croatia, Czech, Sweden to name a few and it should be at least 10. There is no improvement. Man City is playing Sparta Praha so what's the difference. All they want is money.
I don't understand what's forcing you to watch this trash game as you would say. You can just watch the best games. The games that wouldn't be possible without this format.
The difference is sparta praha can use this CL money and be more stronger next season which will only benefit them. Playing city isn't bad at all lmao, how many time will they even face caliber of team like city ever again
UEFA has tried to make a SuperLeague but including all Europe's underdogs, so the result is a fail. Super League makes much more sense, it is much more appealing format, and the clubs can manage 100% of it's investments without a corrupt middelman. Epic UEFA fail. although besides making this monster, they will keep milking everyone's investments and getting even more money putting on the shoulders of the clubs an insane calendar, that brings no good for any of us football fans.
This format is better in terms it removes dead groups, where one team is the walk away winners and others are teams nobody is interested in, creating a group that nobody is interested in. Now teams have to play 2 games against the same pot which ensures high profile matches in initial round itself. The top teams are guaranteed to play each other. The matches against the lower teams have more stakes in them as now you are competing against all teams in the competition based on points. The opponent difficulty is more consistent for every team, as the picks are made on the basis of coefficient and not qualifying positions removing outliers. IMO, this is definitely a better format of group stages.
I would add that UEFA coming up with this to make more money (which they did and is a bad reason to change system) doesn't automatically makes it a bad system. People can make amazing things with bad intent
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
@@ζυγιάζω You don’t need to copy-paste the same answer on 2 different comments. Especially on this one it looks silly since your first argument is that it’s a money-grab, which it absolutely is no one argues with that, but we’ve established that something done for wrong reasons (aka, money) isn’t necessarily bad
@@damienp6375 It's an unnecessary change. The change was solely finally driven, it was not abtthe betterment of anything in anyway. The appeal of big-game fixtures every matchday with nothing on the line until February adds no material value besides pseudo-hyped narratives about "seedings"
@@ζυγιάζω Even if you don’t believe in seeding, there’s still the appeal of top-8 not having to play 2 extra games on an already packed schedule that should convince big teams to take games seriously. But I guess nothing will convince you otherwise, we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out
It's not just bracket depending on the seeding, but it's also that only 8 teams get to completely skeep a whole round. It won't be that easy to clinch top 8 seed early. In the ither hand only 8 teams get completely eliminated without any playoff games. Most teams won't be eliminated from playoff contention that early. So, for most teams later rounds will matter.
Well I'm not surprised someone like ESPN tolerate Craig. I mean if you can't fire him, what are you standing up for? One of the first core value adopted by major companies - is giving respect for others. The way he was getting mad at Kay (tbh if you watch closely, Kay is more intellectual than Craig notwithstanding the invaluable insights he would have as a former player). And he's been doing this for years now. Can't we get a more intelligent and intuitive panel member than this guy???
This is basically the super league with UEFA's logo on it. More matches between bigger teams, less big teams get eliminated (12 instead of 16, despite playing 48 more matches). And obviously the january playoffs is a prefered option than dipping into the europa league, and will probably be easier games (No9 will face No24 and so on), while the bigger (top 8) teams get to rest.
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
@@issabaluch2973 Scarcity creates value. Overexposure dliutes it. Many of these 'big games' before the knockouts early on have nothing tangible on the line besides teams aiming to finish at least as the 8th best team, at worst, 24th.
I say let’s give it a chance and it’s probably going to take a couple of years or more before we know if it’s working. In reality for me it makes no difference, I can’t afford to watch it. It’s behind a paywall that I can’t afford, on its own that would be ok but with EPL behind another paywall, F1 another and every other sport and entertainment behind different paywalls just watching anything you like has become prohibitively expensive. This is the real cost of UEFA et al grabbing wedges of money from sport.
We have to wait and see but I think there is not as much jeopardy in the group/league stage compared to knock out for the top seeded teams to go all out to win against each other, best option draw those games and then win against the lower seeded teams getting all the top seeded teams enough points to go through.
People will care less about understanding the format and still watch because they will care more about all the big games being played now! Its been 30 seconds of change, just let this year go by and then see where this format stands
@@wild4fp shouldn’t be! Some analysts predict you’d need 18 points to guarantee a spot on the top 8 (which is important to avoid playing 2 more games)! That’s 6 wins needed! With that kind of adversity I don’t think we’ll see more than 1 or 2 teams going 6/6 on their 6 first games (if any)! Plus, at this point you’d maybe want to grab the best seeding you can to face an easier opponent in the round of 16
With this new format psg has 6 hard games everyone else have 2 and 6 easier games. All b.c of luck, the extra hard 6 games means they will ruin their players for their own league too. All cuz of luck. Your hard games are you lucky it’s at your home or unlucky at theirs. Luck is now 50% of the hardness
But how can it only be the Champions of the French league to get such fixtures. 3 seasons in a row Group of Deaths. Maybe not luck but preset a.i algorithms bent the fixtures of PSG in this direction.
@@OGCHuila well that was fine, when they had hard group their group also had a hard group(same teams) Now other teams have easy game before not tired; while psg is constantly tired
Yeah and conveniently forget that UEFA can favor their preferred match schedules for certain teams since there's no defined order and rulings on that. This is getting NONSENSICAL !
@@amenstal123 Uefa will just make it so there’s at least one “big game” every champions league night. That’s it. And since every game matters about the same, you can’t favor one team or another by changing the schedule
@@damienp6375 The last 3 games are the crucial ones and since there are no predetermined order of what matches should be played, it's up to Uefa's fancy whom they'd think suit to be playing at those times and NONE can do anything about it...See how stupidly accepting societies are becoming...
@@amenstal123 Why are the last 3 the crucial ones? If Uefa makes it that a team has the harder ones to finish, well then they’ll just try harder to win their first 5 and the final 3 won’t matter that much
@@damienp6375Your point precisely, UEFA decides. You do have heard of accumulated fatigue and injury risk as the season goes by don't you and so are team cohesion making the last 3 games more difficult if facing bigger teams than in the first 3 (Now we can see that). Try be more realistic and a bit less idealistic because what counts is what normally happens not what is wished in the excitement for change. Change is only good and necessary when it's either needed or it improves, because if otherwise it will ruin, which is what will be happening now.
@@amenstal123 Premier league, Serie A, La liga, Bundesliga, they ALL have their schedule decided by the league and not by draw! Why is that fair but Uefa deciding schedule for the champions league isn’t? I think you’re just averse to change! The group phase had problems too, it was boring for the top teams outside of 1 (or 2) death group which was unfair to the teams on those groups
Someone should tell Craig hes now in the ‘watching games’ business, not playing in the game business - telling ppl he aint watching games isnt good marketing 😆
Jesus Christ are Stevie and Craig dense at times...teams that finish 1-8 qualify immediately , 9-24 (the next 16 best teams) will go into a 2 legged tie to determine the 8 remaining teams that will join in the knock out phase, while the last 12 teams are knocked out of Europe completely. No more dropping down from CL into Europa league and so on. It is really not difficult to understand the format.
Craig has lost the plot. He can’t help but watch the “foul” from the scope of “did it hurt the team that was robbed” instead of “what precedent is being set for the entire league”
I actually believe psg will do better this time... They're more confident and solid than when Mbappe was around.. It was always about Mbappe and his ego.
Champions League my foot, it's a cash grab pure and simple. They should call it the Whoever-Finishes-High-Enough League, it should be how it was when it was the European Cup, only the champions of each league qualify and they compete in a random draw with no seeding, pure knockout over two legs.
🤣🤣🤣 Craig has had it. He is right other than the big games no one will care. The fun will come with upsets here and there other that than people are still going to field academy teams after 18 points
What are you a 9 year olds? Of course, there are crappy games now, but you have a lot more top games. So just watch them and say thank you that you don't have to wait once or twice in every group stage for a good match. What a bad journalism.
It's like if you don't want watch bad games then don't watch. It's as simple as that. It's like saying make the premier league just 8 teams to make all the games Top games. It makes no sense.
Craig, you wont have to watch those crappy games cause "the good one" will also be happening at the same time, guy just likes to hate on everything like stevie
This is a sidestep towards the European Super League, painfully obvious when you look at the format....top seeds playing top seeds which will be the same when the aforementioned will ultimately take place!
Gab actully did pretty good.explaining it.
But his mates can't understand, always complain 😂
Craig loves to wallow and flaunt his ignorance with pride
Totally agree. Makes me embarrassed to be Scottish. Shouldn't be anywhere near this panel. Hopefully they replace him soon with someone less negative and more knowledgeable (willing to read up on the rules). Frightening thing is, he gets paid to have an opinion on something he doesn't even understand!
I mean why would you pay to go to a match for work?
I mean in Europe most people didn't fight back against the jab also remember ESPN is liberal AF. Lol all these "criticisms" y'all have against him is just being butthurt on stuff he says. Y'all need to get a life none of y'all no him irl no one knows what hes like outside of his little TV character...
@@OneOkRockSamurai you need to get some brain cells. We are judging his character online. I could care less if he was a monk at home
@@OneOkRockSamurai the dude gets paid to have informed opinions on things but doesn’t bother to even research it!?
I’m Scottish but this guy is inexcusable. Clown.
Absolute worst former player pundits who dont even do their homework. There are youtubers who do 100x better analysis
I agree.
why are they even there tbh.
@@cocob777 Apparently they think Burley and Stevie are real crowd pullets and Alle and get some South American viewers..🤷♂️
This model is way better.. It's the definition of a champions league..You need to play the big boys to prove you're the top dog not sneak behind the back thru small fodder teams.. Besides football needed something new
Wow just like the Superliga that Barça and Madrid wanted to build. What a coincidence🤯
@gabrielcoe-archer8818 they are scared of the super league that's why they copied them in advance 😅
So are the small fodder teams no longer in the competition?
The answer is they are still there and the big clubs will still have to play them.
As for definition of a champions league? Bologna are champions of what exactly?
@JayBrick-zb3or you're making his point man
It's called superligue
You can thank Super League for this 😂
No this is called the Swiss model and it was already coming before the super league nonsense.
💯
@@a-walpatches6460Swiss-system tournaments have been used in chess for a long time but never in European football. This seems like it was inspired by profitable American sports
@@a-walpatches6460Swiss model? 🙄 They should thank the Super League teams!
@@a-walpatches6460 It's not a swiss model.
How’s Craig this clueless and unapologetic about it?
He's a very very idiotic speaker. Honestly.
About what?
Because his employer doesn’t hold him accountable.
Bro, the whole espn set up is just ManUtd tv2... Things havent changed there since the fergie days, they are stuck in time like insects in amber.
Think he’s been drinking too much at hime
It's going to be so much harder to win your domestic league and the CL.
If a club can do a double nowadays, that's a massive effort.
Given that those 9th to 24th place s will have to play 10 matches (2 play-off games) makes it four more matches alone from Champions League. I think some clubs might end up playing weaker squads in either domestic leagues or even in Champions League at times 🤷♂
and madrid will stilll do it
Ppl obviously dont like change but I think this system would be more fun
Not sure why people think its complicated. Pretty simple - 36 teams, 8 games, one league, top 24 go thru, top 8 even better…then knockout stage.
Not complicated, but you wrong 😂😂😂
Top 24 don't go through, Top 8 do and 9-24 go into the playoff bracket. How the playoffs are going to be played I don't know.
This new format is fantastic. There are so many big games now. For example, As a Dortmund fan we only played Barcelona once in 15 years. We finally get to play them this year.
We should be getting around 16 points I think
Yeah, that’s what makes the games exciting. Scarcity is what creates value, they’re diluting the product
Clubs like Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern and PSG facing each other should be a RARITY. Seeing them play each other on every UCL group day just saturates the product even more.
@@lulamabowdenmagwa6803 not really. That's like saying domestic league is nothing. Same teams every year
The new format seems very interesting to me! Gives us more "big games" early on (pot 1 teams being drawn to face each other which wasn't the cas before), is more fair to smallest teams (they have on average the same strength of schedule as the big teams since every team faces 2 teams from each pot), creates more insentives for teams to take every game seriously (seeding matters for the knock-outs AND you can still qualify for playoff round on a lower seeding), stops rewarding bad teams with a chance to win another trophy (no more UCL 3rd group teams going to EL knock-out stage), etc.
The only downsides I can see are that it's more complicated to follow (which is gonna be fine, we'll get used to it I think) and adds 2 to 4 more games on an already packed schedule (that's honestly the only real problem I could find compared to the old format)...
It's just the format on paper and the draw that is confusing. Once the season is underway it's really easy to follow. It's a straight league table where the higher up you finish you will get a bigger advantage of playing a team from the lower part of the standings.
So every single game of the 8 games each team plays will be important, no matter where in the standings you are.
Some people just hate change. I find this exciting. The only downside is more fatigued for the players, but now as squads are getting bigger It will give chances to young players and reserves in those smaller matches
The only downside is that we face different teams home and away.
They would have been much smarter to make it an actual Swiss format tournament. You start with seeding and a higher seeded club would face a weaker side but then after that you would after every match have a new draw where those that on the same match points play against one another and so on each round. This would give tons more top matches each round. Instead it is basically similiar to before where they play two matches against clubs from each seeded group no matter previous results in the tournament 🤦♂
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
UEFA had it right all along but their greed is in overdrive right now. Clubs like Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern and PSG facing each other should be a RARITY. Seeing them play each other on every UCL group day just saturates the product even more.
💯
@ruslanbabayan326 you complain of trashy teams playing the big teams and you also complain about the big games. What do you want exactly?
Yet there are some people who demand that only the top teams should participate in the competition. You can't satisfy everybody.
This is the most exciting format ever! So many big games before the last 16. I think footballers are one of the dumbest in understanding things! Craig and Stevie are prime examples of this. Poor Marcoti trying to explain this to these dinosaurs.
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
UEFA had it right all along but their greed is in overdrive right now. Clubs like Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern and PSG facing each other should be a RARITY. Seeing them play each other on every UCL group day just saturates the product even more.
if you read into the new format (most won't) it makes some sense. but that doesn't change the fact that it was pointless and unnecessary. couple that with the fact it just adds more games to an already PACKED schedule, and that people naturally hate change, the entire thing is a MESS
The question isn’t HOW the format works, but rather WHY they made it work this way
@@Hello-wy2pxthat question has the easiest answer ever: money
@@davismorgan99 well yeah, lol. I was kind of referring to the fans perspective of things, but money is the only real answer here. No one wanted this is what I was getting at.
@Hello-wy2px who is no one? Do you speak for other people? Cause I hated the old format.
@@nazimbelaidi6486 I can speak for the majority opinion. The fact is the majority were fine with the old format and didn’t even think about changing it. Congrats on being a minority hater, I guess.
Just trying to make more money
So is this channel by trying to rage bait.
Why is making more money bad? Don't most of us all want to make more money?
@@ArthasDKRit is fine if not done at someone's expense like SuperLeague was planned...There are relegations ,promotions .It is not closed competition.
This model seems way better. A lot more big games and competition until the end to get the higher seeds. Craig and Stevie are just averse to change. It's more complex but it isn't rocket science.
Craig and Stevie don't understand the system. 😃
But clubs like Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern and PSG facing each other should be a RARITY. Seeing them play each other on every UCL group day just saturates the product even more.
It’s not rocket science figuring it out , pretty straightforward really and way better games every match week . Should have done this a decade ago
Can you explain it as im lost lol
@@carpetbillyits just a league format now like the domestic leagues. Top 8 teams will qualify automatically while those from 9-24th place will go to playoffs from which other 8 teams will go through and the rest will be eliminated. From there on its the same knockout format as previous years. Its not hard to understand as craig put it out.
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
@@ζυγιάζω if done well this is better ,on paper of course
@@ζυγιάζω it did need tampering. The old format rewarded mediocre teams for getting a lucky draw.
So why not get the Super League then? Id rather have all the money go to the teams than Uefa.
... because teams would stop qualifying through their domestic leagues! It would be the same teams forever... also no team outside of the 5-6 top leagues would be invited! This is very very far away from a Super League, no matter how you feel about the new format
But qualifying as a champion in you Home national league accounts for nothing now...see PSG fixtures in comparison to 2nd/3rd placed teams from other leagues and the resulting easier fixtures they got.
@@OGCHuila This is a totally different argument than what I was talking about. And the answer is yes, but remember that only the champions of big leagues had this advantage before. Was it fair? I’m not sure about that.
Good lord the way these lot go on you'd think its all written in some unknown alien language.
It's really not that difficult to understand how this works.
I am really looking forward to this, especially the last matchday of the group should be crazy, all games at the same time, teams fighting for top spots, getting into top 8 or top 24, gonna be fun
This is the UEFA TOURNAMENT
don’t call it Champions league!!!
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SHOULD BE PLAYED BY ACTUAL CHAMPIONS OF EACH LEAGUE!!!
Spot on mate 👌
There will always be a lot of crappy games, when they allow no. 2,3,4's into the tournament, no matter how the structure is.
People can call me old schooler, but i prefer the old structure with only champions, and playing 2 games against eachother, then next opponent.
As a fan, its confusing. But seeing the fixtures, I absolutely love it.
Players and coaches will find it tough but as fans it will be nice seeing big games early in the tournament
I dont get Craigs deep negativity. I love this NFL style format. Very diverse and competitive.
Let’s see how it actually plays out, but on paper it’s a horrible idea. They should bring back the old European cup format. I don’t care if I have to see Real Madrid thrash diddeleng 17-0. At some point it’ll balance out, and it’ll at least make it a winnable competition for smaller and medium sized clubs again.
@@Xenix73 THIS makes it a more winnable competition for smaller and medium sized teams. In the league stage, they’ll face on average the same strength of schedule as the big teams (when it was group stage, pot 1 never faced pot 1 but also pot 4 never faced pot 4)!
Then on the knockout stage anything is theoretically possible, as it always has been! This stage is the same as the old European cup format and in fact under the same system as last year we got Porto winning over Monaco in 2004! There were “medium-sized teams” on the knockouts like every year! The reason no medium-sized teams are winning anymore is not the format but the widening gap between medium and large-sized teams in the last decade or so
I don't even talk about PSG's chances, but there's too many big fixtures. Liverpool gets Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, while Barcelona gets Bayern Munich. Those are quite banger compared to PSG!
It's a really good formart, give it time it's will definitely grow on people and it's will turn out great.
The rejection of Super League make uefa sures, that football fans do love Establishment, no matter how bad it is
It is NOT a Swiss System anymore. A Swiss System would have seen each matchday (except for the first 1 or 2) scheduled depending on the live standings.
@@raducora7159 A man of culture! Yeah, they should have called it “modified” Swiss system, but it doesn’t really matter! A true Swiss system would have been too complicated to implement I think
@@damienp6375 The main disadvantage would have been the short time between finding your next opponent and the match itself. Less time for advertising, planning trips for away fans, and so on.
Old men can't accept change, fancy that. Bigger and better games more often. Much better system plus it delays the super league being a thing.
Bingo.
I don't care how the new format works and I don't even have a clue yet but as long as i get to see the big teams face each other this early in the group stages, i won't complain
Even though I'm not an Arsenal fan, can't wait for their games between Inter and PSG. People will finally realise how strong they are.
💀
People won't rate us because inter and psg aren't strong, I wanted real madrid and barca
@@Alejandro2oh9you had the worst bayern team in history last year and lost. Behave yourself
@@shawnmagma7090 And the worst Chelsea team in history was able to beat one of the best Bayern teams in history at their own backyard in a final. It's football and you understand it.
You'll finally realise how strong Inter is
I think Craig and Stevie are too old school and don't see the incredible change in front of them. This is way more exciting and there's much more on the line than in the previous format. It effectively provides a beautiful solution against the super league
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
Craig is right this time. Man I don't understand this I'm too busy to even go read or doing any findings on how it works.
Ignoring why each team is in their respective pot, the basis is that every team has to play 2 teams from each pot but cannot play more than 2 teams from the same country and cannot play teams from the same league.
Another dumb read that is how you become intelligent enough to understand matters! Birds of the same feathers…
Stop being stupid. It’s the nba format literally. Small brain
It's not that complicated but other than adding jeopardy to most matches it does more harm than good imo.
The worst part about it is it's supposed to be one giant table/group but every opponent is playing a different set of fixtures and that's inherently unfair by it's very concept.
@mystikkrap since when the champions league is fair
PSG cannot catch a break when it comes to the champions league as I guess they’re about to go another season without winning this competition. Out of all the elite teams, they have some very tough fixtures. In the new UCL format where they’re going to be playing 8 different teams (4 at home and 4 away), 2 teams from each pot, they have some difficult teams: Manchester City Bayern Munich Arsenal and Atletico Madrid. Good luck against those teams and the rest of the teams are favorable games for them, but given how unpredictable the champions league can be, there are games that could be difficult for them to cope with.
Girona looks much weaker than last season especially since they lost 2 of their best players in the same transfer window, they’ve started this season off very slow, still regardless of how they’re playing they can give them a test, PSV RB Salzburg and Stuttgart could pose them some problems since even if people perceive them as weak teams, games aren’t as easy as you think they are at this level. If they’re able to get a result against one of the better teams even if a draw would be good enough for PSG and they take care of business against teams they should be beating, considering the quality of teams they’re going up against, they would be ok finishing 9th-24th since they’ll have to play a 2legged playoff tie in order to reach the knockout stages.
It could be helpful for them to test themselves against top teams because they won't get any in ligue 1.
You have both made reasonable assessments on the situation Paris Saint-German find themselves. But it's becoming a bit much that's 3 seasons in a row to which PSG find their team in a Group of Death so called. With the involvement of A.I people will suspect preemptive algorithms preset to bend their ties in this direction. How does psg appear to face 4 challenging teams, while the other champions of their own national leagues face 2-3 on paper perceivable challenging fixtures.
What they've done is they've just added smaller teams to it that's all. If they really wanted top matches and big matches. They should take the top 7 from England, Spain, Germany and Italy and choose top 3 from France and Portugal and choose the league leaders and runner ups from the other top football nations, Croatia, Czech, Sweden to name a few and it should be at least 10. There is no improvement. Man City is playing Sparta Praha so what's the difference. All they want is money.
I don't understand what's forcing you to watch this trash game as you would say. You can just watch the best games. The games that wouldn't be possible without this format.
The difference is sparta praha can use this CL money and be more stronger next season which will only benefit them. Playing city isn't bad at all lmao, how many time will they even face caliber of team like city ever again
UEFA has tried to make a SuperLeague but including all Europe's underdogs, so the result is a fail.
Super League makes much more sense, it is much more appealing format, and the clubs can manage 100% of it's investments without a corrupt middelman.
Epic UEFA fail. although besides making this monster, they will keep milking everyone's investments and getting even more money putting on the shoulders of the clubs an insane calendar, that brings no good for any of us football fans.
I like the new way
This format is better in terms it removes dead groups, where one team is the walk away winners and others are teams nobody is interested in, creating a group that nobody is interested in. Now teams have to play 2 games against the same pot which ensures high profile matches in initial round itself.
The top teams are guaranteed to play each other.
The matches against the lower teams have more stakes in them as now you are competing against all teams in the competition based on points.
The opponent difficulty is more consistent for every team, as the picks are made on the basis of coefficient and not qualifying positions removing outliers.
IMO, this is definitely a better format of group stages.
I would add that UEFA coming up with this to make more money (which they did and is a bad reason to change system) doesn't automatically makes it a bad system. People can make amazing things with bad intent
I compare it with going to the gym for looks, but it's still good for health. Also making money is crucial. Without money there won't be any football
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
@@ζυγιάζω You don’t need to copy-paste the same answer on 2 different comments. Especially on this one it looks silly since your first argument is that it’s a money-grab, which it absolutely is no one argues with that, but we’ve established that something done for wrong reasons (aka, money) isn’t necessarily bad
@@damienp6375 It's an unnecessary change. The change was solely finally driven, it was not abtthe betterment of anything in anyway. The appeal of big-game fixtures every matchday with nothing on the line until February adds no material value besides pseudo-hyped narratives about "seedings"
@@ζυγιάζω Even if you don’t believe in seeding, there’s still the appeal of top-8 not having to play 2 extra games on an already packed schedule that should convince big teams to take games seriously. But I guess nothing will convince you otherwise, we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out
Really excited for this new format. There'll be hiccups ofcourse initially, but we get to see a whole lot more exciting games
My opinion is that if winning it back to back gets more difficult, then its a better system.
It's not just bracket depending on the seeding, but it's also that only 8 teams get to completely skeep a whole round. It won't be that easy to clinch top 8 seed early. In the ither hand only 8 teams get completely eliminated without any playoff games. Most teams won't be eliminated from playoff contention that early. So, for most teams later rounds will matter.
Our fav KAYYYYYY 🔥🔥🔥
Well I'm not surprised someone like ESPN tolerate Craig. I mean if you can't fire him, what are you standing up for? One of the first core value adopted by major companies - is giving respect for others. The way he was getting mad at Kay (tbh if you watch closely, Kay is more intellectual than Craig notwithstanding the invaluable insights he would have as a former player). And he's been doing this for years now. Can't we get a more intelligent and intuitive panel member than this guy???
I’m happy that top teams have to play top teams from the start
Being Top 8 is more difficult than 1 or 2 in groups for sure.
It’s all about UEFA making more money. 💴. More games means more player burnout
Also, to Gab’s point, they could’ve done seeding in the knockout rounds without changing the entire format.
Craig nails it again. Unnecessary complications
Craig n Stevie I love them both so dearly, but this is 2 old Men yelling get off my lawn!
This is basically the super league with UEFA's logo on it. More matches between bigger teams, less big teams get eliminated (12 instead of 16, despite playing 48 more matches). And obviously the january playoffs is a prefered option than dipping into the europa league, and will probably be easier games (No9 will face No24 and so on), while the bigger (top 8) teams get to rest.
The format didn't need tampering with. It's basically a money-grab under the guise of _evolution_ , UEFA essentially added 64 additional games to their coffers. The biggest downside is the "unevenness" of the home-away ties and dilution of the 'big game allure
@@ζυγιάζω the big games just cover the ton of meaningless ties added.
@@issabaluch2973 Scarcity creates value. Overexposure dliutes it. Many of these 'big games' before the knockouts early on have nothing tangible on the line besides teams aiming to finish at least as the 8th best team, at worst, 24th.
That is why it is call Champion League. You have to be the best of the best to win.
I say let’s give it a chance and it’s probably going to take a couple of years or more before we know if it’s working. In reality for me it makes no difference, I can’t afford to watch it. It’s behind a paywall that I can’t afford, on its own that would be ok but with EPL behind another paywall, F1 another and every other sport and entertainment behind different paywalls just watching anything you like has become prohibitively expensive. This is the real cost of UEFA et al grabbing wedges of money from sport.
Gab tried to explain it, and then messed it up! Dire reporting.
We have to wait and see but I think there is not as much jeopardy in the group/league stage compared to knock out for the top seeded teams to go all out to win against each other, best option draw those games and then win against the lower seeded teams getting all the top seeded teams enough points to go through.
People will care less about understanding the format and still watch because they will care more about all the big games being played now! Its been 30 seconds of change, just let this year go by and then see where this format stands
Will it be predictable, the top teams through early then playing reserve team? Looks good but let's see...
@@wild4fp shouldn’t be! Some analysts predict you’d need 18 points to guarantee a spot on the top 8 (which is important to avoid playing 2 more games)! That’s 6 wins needed! With that kind of adversity I don’t think we’ll see more than 1 or 2 teams going 6/6 on their 6 first games (if any)! Plus, at this point you’d maybe want to grab the best seeding you can to face an easier opponent in the round of 16
This ain't the first time the UCL has been restructured. The way I see it, we shall all be used to this change in no time
This actually looks more interesting. My only concern is the health and fitness of the players. They are playing far too many games as it is.
With this new format psg has 6 hard games everyone else have 2 and 6 easier games. All b.c of luck, the extra hard 6 games means they will ruin their players for their own league too. All cuz of luck. Your hard games are you lucky it’s at your home or unlucky at theirs. Luck is now 50% of the hardness
But how can it only be the Champions of the French league to get such fixtures. 3 seasons in a row Group of Deaths. Maybe not luck but preset a.i algorithms bent the fixtures of PSG in this direction.
@@OGCHuila well that was fine, when they had hard group their group also had a hard group(same teams) Now other teams have easy game before not tired; while psg is constantly tired
@@OriginalAbsolute Champions (Pot 1 Seeders) of other respective leagues had easier groups.
I’m just worried about how the football schedule is so congested already. International breaks in the mix
it´s really not rocket science once it´s explained ...i actually like that more top 1 teams will be tested early
Yeah and conveniently forget that UEFA can favor their preferred match schedules for certain teams since there's no defined order and rulings on that. This is getting NONSENSICAL !
@@amenstal123 Uefa will just make it so there’s at least one “big game” every champions league night. That’s it. And since every game matters about the same, you can’t favor one team or another by changing the schedule
@@damienp6375 The last 3 games are the crucial ones and since there are no predetermined order of what matches should be played, it's up to Uefa's fancy whom they'd think suit to be playing at those times and NONE can do anything about it...See how stupidly accepting societies are becoming...
@@amenstal123 Why are the last 3 the crucial ones? If Uefa makes it that a team has the harder ones to finish, well then they’ll just try harder to win their first 5 and the final 3 won’t matter that much
@@damienp6375Your point precisely, UEFA decides. You do have heard of accumulated fatigue and injury risk as the season goes by don't you and so are team cohesion making the last 3 games more difficult if facing bigger teams than in the first 3 (Now we can see that). Try be more realistic and a bit less idealistic because what counts is what normally happens not what is wished in the excitement for change. Change is only good and necessary when it's either needed or it improves, because if otherwise it will ruin, which is what will be happening now.
@@amenstal123 Premier league, Serie A, La liga, Bundesliga, they ALL have their schedule decided by the league and not by draw! Why is that fair but Uefa deciding schedule for the champions league isn’t? I think you’re just averse to change! The group phase had problems too, it was boring for the top teams outside of 1 (or 2) death group which was unfair to the teams on those groups
This is actually better 😂
You play Taylorhardwoodbellis and his dog 😂😂😂
Someone should tell Craig hes now in the ‘watching games’ business, not playing in the game business - telling ppl he aint watching games isnt good marketing 😆
Great watching Gab school both Old Man Stevie and Scraps Burley 😂 Those guys are... slow.
toughset draw poor psg no Mbappe too
Jesus Christ are Stevie and Craig dense at times...teams that finish 1-8 qualify immediately , 9-24 (the next 16 best teams) will go into a 2 legged tie to determine the 8 remaining teams that will join in the knock out phase, while the last 12 teams are knocked out of Europe completely. No more dropping down from CL into Europa league and so on. It is really not difficult to understand the format.
actually if you win your first 6 games and are sure you through you can still just play your bench ....
This format is ridiculous. If you want more games, why not just double the amount of groups, then have one more knockout round.
I’m so confused with this whole champions league format.
Craig has lost the plot. He can’t help but watch the “foul” from the scope of “did it hurt the team that was robbed” instead of “what precedent is being set for the entire league”
Gab should have face-time Craig during the drawings. Every pot.
lol Stevie & Craig are hilarious, they just like me they don’t want to read an article explaining everything
Please put people on the show that know what they are talking about not just complain about everything
I actually believe psg will do better this time... They're more confident and solid than when Mbappe was around.. It was always about Mbappe and his ego.
Champions League my foot, it's a cash grab pure and simple. They should call it the Whoever-Finishes-High-Enough League, it should be how it was when it was the European Cup, only the champions of each league qualify and they compete in a random draw with no seeding, pure knockout over two legs.
Craig would’ve still been flipping burgers if he didn’t know how to kick a ball…
this system is much better
Oh look, Harry Potter loves football, didnt know.
These pundits are just waffle except for gab. This year the cl will be more competitive
These old men think everyone is slow like them, enemies of change, enemies of progress..😅
look at how much psg have spend. they spend 200mil every transfer window
Craig and Stevie are willfully, blatantly and unapologetically ignorant. The sad thing is that they're loud about it. Dear Lord!
Greatest club Real Madrid 💯+ 🔟+
Craig's "grumpy old fart' act is getting old. Keep quiet if you wanna be ignorant.
Craig complaining like a crybaby! He clearly does not understand how this new format is going to make it much more interesting
Halland scoring the most goals in a ucl
🤣🤣🤣 Craig has had it. He is right other than the big games no one will care. The fun will come with upsets here and there other that than people are still going to field academy teams after 18 points
18 points is 6 straight wins. Comeback to this comment when there is a team other than man city that can do it.
Format is better but definitely more injuries will occur too many other games
Craig thinks permutations are more about the X-men movies
Don’t change anything because Craig doesn’t like it so everything stop .
What are you a 9 year olds?
Of course, there are crappy games now, but you have a lot more top games. So just watch them and say thank you that you don't have to wait once or twice in every group stage for a good match.
What a bad journalism.
It's like if you don't want watch bad games then don't watch. It's as simple as that. It's like saying make the premier league just 8 teams to make all the games Top games. It makes no sense.
this is like mls style or aussie rules!
Why is Craig so negative lol he clearly doesn't get it and will be the first to praise it later on
Craig, you wont have to watch those crappy games cause "the good one" will also be happening at the same time, guy just likes to hate on everything like stevie
This is a sidestep towards the European Super League, painfully obvious when you look at the format....top seeds playing top seeds which will be the same when the aforementioned will ultimately take place!
Who cares what two old men, who can't even change their own lives, never mind appreciate that change can be positive in other things
Craig pretends like football has never changed
In the end is all about more money 🤑