swiss round makes the new version of the champions league a real "league": the money is amazing but there is no shortage of overtime
2024-09-20
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after much anticipation, the champions league, which changed its competition format for the first time in 21 years, finally kicked off on the first working day after the mid-autumn festival holiday.
one 9-2, three 3-1, the group matches that used to start off peacefully and calmly, have witnessed a lot of big scores after switching to the league system. although they all dislike the intensive competition system after the expansion, when the uefa champions league theme song sounded, all the giants were very honest.
after the classic 32-team, 8-group competition system became history, what else can fans expect from the new version of the champions league that runs throughout the entire season, apart from the dramatic changes in the competition system and the expansion of the prize pool?
september 17, milan, italy, 24/25 champions league round 1, ac milan vs liverpool. visual china photo
a feast of goals, worthy of "exclusive"
is the new champions league format good? at least this early morning, the fans were satisfied enough.
in 6 games, the 12 participating teams scored a total of 28 goals, with an average of 4.67 goals per game. the smallest score was 2 goals, and the most was 11.
compared with the feast of goals, the topics on match day are also considerable: can kane, who scored four goals, compete for the golden boot? who is more suitable to be the center forward of real madrid, mbappe or enderrick? does sloter's liverpool "best formation" work?
it seems that a world has been achieved where everyone is satisfied, except for the editing editors who have to work overtime.
different from the previous champions league group stage which was "slow to start", "restrained" and "selective opponents", the first stage "league" of the champions league, which has been expanded to 36 teams, adopts the "swiss round" competition system commonly used in e-sports and other events. there is no longer a "group" concept. all teams are ranked in the overall standings. the top 8 teams advance directly to the top 16, 9th to 24th teams enter the play-offs, and the bottom 12 teams bid farewell to european wars completely.
this means that every game is a battle of encounter. no matter what the score is in the "league", the two sides will only meet once. if they want revenge, they can only wait until they draw the opponent again in the knockout round.
uefa has also taken great pains to market the new version of the champions league.
the most significant change is that the first european match day will only feature the champions league, not the europa league or the uefa champions league. this wednesday, thursday and friday, 18 matches will be held over three days, with strong teams appearing every day to ensure that the attention is not lost.
as for the strong dialogues that fans are most concerned about, although the "group of death" that often appeared in the champions league in the past has become a thing of the past, it does not mean that the strong dialogues will be absent.
in addition to the match between ac milan and liverpool in the first round of the league, manchester city and inter milan will also replicate the 2022 champions league final. there will be an average of two strong dialogues per round, which is not a low frequency.
another viewing habit that fans need to change is that the champions league group stage, which usually ends in early december, will continue until january 29 next year, and then there will be a fierce battle for 9th to 24th place. in the entire competition schedule, the champions league no longer has a clear "break", and it is almost a full season.
in other words, today's champions league is a "league" in the true sense.
on september 17, ac milan player pulisic (third from left) scored a goal in the game. on the same day, in the first round of the 2024-2025 uefa champions league, serie a ac milan lost 1-3 to premier league liverpool at home. xinhua news agency photo
change is imperative
the uefa champions league has used the classic format for 21 years from 2003 to 2024. 32 teams advance to the finals, and after six rounds of group matches, the top 16 will be decided. then, two rounds of 1/8 finals, two rounds of quarter-finals, two rounds of semi-finals and a single round of finals will be held to determine the final champion.
the basis of all this is that the 32 teams are divided into 8 groups according to different levels, and the top 2 teams advance to participate in the subsequent knockout rounds. this competition system is undoubtedly a classic setting for the world cup. since 1998, the world cup has been expanded to 32 teams and has also used this competition system for 24 years, until the world cup in the united states, canada and mexico two years later, it was changed again.
compared with the past, the changes brought by the new season are obvious. in the past, it took 13 games for a team to win the championship from the group stage, but in the future, it will take at least 15 games, and 17 games if they play in the play-offs.
each participating team will have to play against at least two first-tier teams. as the number of opponents increases, the change in home and away fields also brings more uncertainty to the results of the games. in the past, the matchups that were difficult to appear in the group stage have also become possible one by one.
more importantly, after the introduction of the "league ranking", the previous situation where teams could theoretically secure the top spot in the first four rounds and then "slack off" in the last two rounds will no longer be a thing of the past. the ranking of all teams will not be settled until the end of the "league" at the end of january next year. the slightest score or even goal difference will determine whether a team will directly advance, play in the play-offs or even be eliminated.
in other words, under the new competition system, participating teams do not have the freedom to "lie down" but only constant "involution".
there is no doubt that the "swiss round" of the champions league is the biggest reform of the champions league in 21 years. before this, uefa has implemented a series of minor changes, such as the reform of the qualifying round, the modification of the tier rules and the cancellation of away goals, but they all focused on optimizing the details. this time, it is almost a complete overhaul.
although it will take time for most fans to adapt to the current champions league, for the champions league founded in the 1950s, change is the main theme. especially since the reform in the 1992-1993 season, the champions league has implemented 7 different competition systems.
from the first introduction of the group stage in 1992, to the inclusion of the league runner-up in the champions league team in 1997, to the adoption of a marathon system of two rounds of group matches and a maximum of 19 games from 1999 to 2003, the champions league has always been a testing ground for various pioneering competition systems.
in a word, "change" is the main theme of the champions league system, and this "swiss round" is no exception.
september 17, madrid, spain, 24/25 champions league round 1, real madrid vs. stuttgart. visual china photo
the bonus is good, but overtime is too hard!
compared with the old version of the champions league, the biggest attraction of the swiss round system of the champions league is the continuously increasing bonuses.
last season, the total revenue of the europa league, the uefa europa league and the 2023 european super cup was about 3.5 billion euros, of which 2.032 billion was allocated to the champions league and european super cup teams. however, according to the new champions league profit-sharing plan, the total prize pool will rise to 4.4 billion euros, of which 2.467 billion will be allocated to the champions league and european super cup teams, both of which are significantly increased.
under the new champions league system, as long as a team finishes the first stage, even if they lose all eight games, they can still get a basic bonus of 18.62 million euros, which is higher than the guaranteed income of 15.64 million euros in the group stage last season. this also means that even the minor roles with little presence will get more "salary" than before after their respective roles are over.
compared with the past, striving to enter the champions league zone of their respective leagues has become a business that is sure to make money, or even a huge profit, especially for the "poor teams" in la liga and serie a.
the bigger temptation is obviously the soaring championship prize money. last season, the champion real madrid received 85.14 million euros in prize money alone, plus the tv broadcast share, nearly 150 million euros in revenue, which once again broke the historical record of champions league prize money. but now, the winner of the allianz arena in munich next year will get no less than real madrid.
according to the new distribution plan, teams will receive 2.1 million euros for each win in the league stage and 700,000 euros for a draw. after the league stage, they will receive dividends based on their ranking, up to 9.9 million euros. teams ranked 1-8 and directly advanced to the round of 16 will receive an additional 2 million euros in bonuses.
in the knockout stage, every step forward for the team will bring good financial prospects: the prize money for the round of 16 is 11 million euros, the quarterfinals is 12.5 million euros, the semi-finals is 15 million euros, the final is 18.5 million euros, and there is another 6.5 million euros for winning the championship.
in the best case scenario, if the champions league champions finish the first phase of the league with a perfect record, they will receive an unprecedented 111.82 million euros, 31.3% higher than real madrid's bonus last season. and considering the increase in the number of champions league games in the new season, the tv bonus will obviously be much higher than last year.
yildiz scored to help juventus beat psv eindhoven 3-1 in the first round of the champions league.
however, while uefa is pushing for the new competition system, it is also forced to offer "astronomical figures" to reward participating teams.
as uefa's number one concern in recent years, the european super league, initiated by real madrid and other giants in 2021, has not made substantial progress for various reasons. however, the european court of justice's ruling in december last year determined that fifa and uefa cannot monopolize the event, which theoretically still creates a legal basis for the establishment of the european super league.
another company that is preparing to compete with the champions league is obviously fifa's new club world cup. starting next year, the four-year club world cup will be expanded to 32 teams, directly targeting the champions league before the reform, with a total prize money of 2.5 billion euros, which is on the same level as the champions league.
there is no doubt that this redistribution of club resources has been as big as it can be. however, the two extra rounds of matches in the new champions league have aroused opposition from many players and industry insiders.
led by spanish captain rodri, manchester city, which has been struggling with multiple battles in recent years, has expressed dissatisfaction with the 70 games. in the view of the spanish midfielder, a reasonable scale of events is 40-50 games, not the 80 games in the future.
jonas baer-hoffmann, secretary general of the international professional footballers association, made it clear: "the evidence shows that the brutal schedule puts far more physical and mental pressure on today's elite players than previous generations of players."
but no matter what, in the face of increasingly staggering bonuses, only a few can say "no". in the champions league in the era of overwork, it is always the workers who suffer.
yang jian, special writer for the paper/push-up football
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