Champs League format a big hit

LISBON • Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin says the single-game knockout format, used in the Champions League this year from the quarter-finals onwards, has produced more exciting football than the usual two-legged games and could be revisited in the future.

The format was changed in order to allow the competition to be completed in a shorter time span after the Covid-19 pandemic halted play in European leagues from March.

The "Final Eight" clubs have been based in Lisbon for the past two weeks, culminating in yesterday's final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain and Ceferin believes the reformatted competition has been a success, despite being played behind closed doors.

Without a second leg and away goals to fall back on, teams have been forced to go for it and that has resonated with fans watching from home.

"We were forced to do it but in the end, we see that we found out something new. So we will think about it in the future for sure," he told Reuters.

"(There has been) not so much tactics. If it is one match, if one team scores then the other has to score as soon as possible. If it is two-legged system, then there is still time to win the next match.

"More exciting matches for sure, but of course, we also have to think about the fact that we have less matches and broadcasters (can) say, 'You don't have as many matches as before, this is different', so we will have to discuss when this crazy situation ends."

The current format is locked in place contractually until the 2024-25 season, but discussions are due to begin later this year on the structure for the competition for the next phase.

Clearing space in the congested international calendar will be another obstacle to overcome amid the pandemic, but Ceferin is clearly intrigued by the possibilities.

"Look, for sure it is a very interesting format. Now, I doubt as much as the calendar is now, that we could do a 'Final Eight' (tournament), because it would take too much time," the Slovenian added. "But a format with one match and a system like it is now, I think it would be much more exciting than the format that was before.

"If we would play this system then, but we haven't discussed with anyone, its just an idea, we would play in one city. If you play in one city, you can have a week of football or something like that. But it is far too early to think about it.

"We have seen it as a big success and the viewership over TV has been huge, maybe it also good because it is August and people are at home, some of them at least, but interesting, interesting tournament."

REUTERS