UEFA has decided to replace the group stage with one big league from 2024 on, meaning more games but far less drаmа.

 

Silvio Berlusconi always said that the main problem with the old European Cup was that “the unmeasured factor prevailed”. For him, there are too many variables; The chance of mishaps or poor decisions could end a continental campaign.

For more than 30 years, the European Cup has been a knockout round between the national champions, which means an unfavorable result can see a strong contender eliminated in the first round – as it did. occurred in 1987, when Real Madrid beаt Napoli with a total score of 3-1.

 

Berlusconi was present for the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu and was disgusted with the inevitability that the Spanish or Italian champions would be eliminated at the earliest stages of the tournament. The following year, after Berlusconi’s Milan beаt Napoli to the Serie A title, he told Corriere della Sera: “We must turn the European Cup into an intercontinental tournament, a formula that will give club economic guarantees.

 

Imagine that with a few more players you could play twice as many matches. We would go play in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon – not in some provincial town there. This year is an interesting example, with Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle all in the same group. Only one thing is certain in the “Group of Hard” – that two teams will not survive. As a result, it can – or at least should – enthrall from start to finish. Because equality creates entertainment.

 

However, the upcoming scrapping of the group stage means we won’t see the same again. So enjoy it while you can – because the adjustments and threats certainly don’t end here. The “Swiss model” is just the beginning.