New European Football Format (From 24/25)

[Powderfinger]

Personally I hope they revert back to groups.

I don't mind if they increase the group size, but the league was uninteresting for me. As you say was weird to be in a league next to teams you would never play and the format lessened the importance of the 'big' games as it seems really hard for a shock if you think City lost 3 and drew 2 games and still went through. Part of what was great with the groups and Home and Away was also seeing how your team fared in the return fixture, which were often very different games, given how important going through 1st was.

I was glad to see the format shaken up because it was starting to feel extremely stale. But I don't think the new system works very well. The key problem for me is the extra two games, which not only puts too much additional strain on players but also just makes it that much less likely that a top team won't qualify. The more games you have the more inevitable it is that the cream rises to the top. With six games, a couple bad results really puts you in jeopardy whereas with eight games there's more room to just beat up a few poor sides and squeak through like City did.

 

[Chipper]

I don't really watch European competition games that United aren't playing in and that hasn't changed, but I've enjoyed following the results more. Made it a bit more exciting for me.

As for City going through with a record of W3 D2 L3, I don't see it as much different from normal. Dinamo Zagreb didn't go through with the same record and if you look at last season's group stages Copenhagen and PSG went through with records of W2 D2 L2, AC Milan and Shakhtar dropped into the Europa with the same record. That sort of even record of wins and losses has always given teams a chance and still does.

We've still seen 2 German teams, a Spanish and an Italian team knocked out of the CL at this league phase of the CL. None of the very biggest sides from those countries but they're from strong associations and it's managed to bin them off in somewhat surprising fashion I supppose.

I think it's been great in Europa League and Conference League, that's been the real plus for me. The races for 8th and 24th in those and some of the teams that have gone through, giving them a bit of limelight has been refreshing.

Pluses and minuses to not playing the same team twice. From a United perspective playing the way we are Bodo/Glimt and Rangers away might have been fascinating in terms of not being able to guess the result, it's denied us of those matches. It's also meant we were saved from having to watch us obivously beat Steaua Bucharest at home based on the away game there which wouldn't have been an interesting watch at all if we'd have drawn them in the old format.

 

[Thunderhead]

only thing I would change is a 1 legged playoff with the team finishing higher in the league getting home advantage

 

[Kasper]

Overall an upgrade, mainly because the group format had gone incredibly stale and at least this is shaking things up.

I like the variety in matches, I felt the group stages with the pots and the home and away system produced the same fixtures over and over again. More games is meh but whatever. Getting used to that now.