French clubs attack the C1 and its new formula at a hellish pace

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There will be four French clubs to hear the anthem of the Champions League this season. Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Lille and Brest each begin their European campaigns this week with the launch of the first day of competition. Lille will open the show against Sporting Portugal on Tuesday evening, PSG will face Girona on Wednesday, then Monaco and Brest will meet FC Barcelona and Sturm Graz respectively on Thursday.

But this season, Brest will not be the only team to step into the unknown on the European stage. All the clubs involved in Europe will inaugurate the new C1 formula, approved in May 2022 and applied from this 2024-2025 season. I am very pleased that the UEFA Executive Committee has taken this decision unanimously, with the European Club Association, the European Leagues and the national associations all agreeing with the proposal made. This is further proof that European football is more united than ever. “, rejoiced UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin at the end of August.

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As a reminder, this new Champions League format will pit 36 ​​teams in total against 32 until now. An expansion that allows France to have a fourth representative in the competition. The group stage is replaced by a first round in the form of a championship where each team will face eight different opponents. At the end of this first phase at the end of January, the top eight teams in the ranking will go directly to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th place will have to play off in two-way play-offs to reach the knockout stage. The last twelve clubs in the ranking will be definitively eliminated from all European competitions, since the Europa League repechages have been eliminated.

A new C1 under fire from critics

With this new format, UEFA boasts a more exciting and unpredictable European season where ” Every game, every goal and every point counts “, promising ” quality shocks from day one “But this reform of the C1 quickly attracted the wrath of many players, coaches and observers due to the multiplication of matches making the seasons ever more intense. Especially since Fifa also plans to launch its new Club World Cup next summer in the United States, with there also a change of format to integrate 32 teams.

” As a former player, I have to admit that I don’t know how they do it. There are too many games. If there was only the Champions League, it would be fine. But you have to add the Nations League (in the national team) and the Club World Cup at the end of the season. (…) Do the math for a player who is required to play every game. Let’s not just talk about the physical aspect, but also the psychological aspect and what it demands of a player to always have to perform. At some point, their well-being is also important. “, regretted Thierry Henry on September 12 during a press conference on the American channel CBS, where he serves as a consultant for the Champions League. Without forgetting to mention the national cups, such as the FA Cup or the English League Cup contested by the Premier League clubs, which add to the frenetic pace of the calendar.

On September 6, it was Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne who also sounded the alarm about these infernal paces: ” The PFA (the professional footballers’ union in England) and players’ associations in other countries have tried to find solutions. The problem is that UEFA and FIFA keep adding more and more games and no solution has been found. They don’t care. It’s money that talks. “All eyes are now on the Champions League and its new format, which is full of promise, but also much more challenging for its main players.

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