Berlin (AP) – Semi-finals with return games could be a thing of the past in the Champions League in three years.
According to a report in the English daily newspaper “The Times”, there are ideas for a further modification of the most important European club competition for the reform of the premier football league that has already been decided from the 2024/25 season. Accordingly, the winner of the Champions League could in future be determined in a final four tournament of the best four teams, such as in handball or basketball. That was already the case at the end of the first Corona season when FC Bayern prevailed in Portugal’s capital Lisbon in 2020.
The idea is to introduce a so-called “Week of Football” with semi-finals and finals in just one place. These considerations would be supported by the European club association ECA, according to the “Times”. A decision has not yet been made, within the European Football Union there are also critical voices about the plans, it said.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin had already spoken out in favor of introducing a final tournament last year. “That could be great. And efficient in terms of revenue if done right,” said Ceferin 2021 of the French “L’Équipe”. This could be a “fantastic event” with a week of football, Ceferin said of the benefits. However, the clubs would lose home games and the fewer games would result in fewer TV broadcasts.
Most recently, UEFA decided to reform the Champions League from 2024. Then 36 instead of 32 teams will take part in the preliminary round, and there will also be a total of 100 more games.