Champions League Mutterings

In my humble opinion a very bad idea..the Europa league has a rich history going back to the old UEFA cup days..and it has a place too..i have never been one who thumbs his nose at the Europa league. You only need to go back in history to see how many times the Europa/UEFA cup winner has been able to defeat the Champions League/European cup champion equivalent to see that the clubs that play in that league though not as glamorous certainly have quality and merit as well. There is need for a competition that lower level clubs that dont have as much glitz and money can realistically aspire to win and where they can raise their profile in europe. As it is the Champions league already has a big enough gulf in class of teams..Expanding it will just water down the quality more..what is the point when it is clear there are probably at best no more than a dozen clubs that have any chance at all of winning the competition? What is the point seeing Barca pound some nameless Romanian club 12-0 and call it a Champions league encounter? or see ManU or Bayern or Real manhandle a poor small side from Albania and call that Champions league football? I smell this is all about trying to simply make more money rather than what is best for the game..typical of Platini and his cohorts.

it's completely fine the way it is, i make gabeu's words mine

As I come from a country which is not particularly the best in terms of football (Bulgaria) I have learned to appreciate it when a big name comes to play against any Bulgarian side.You must understand that these matches attract not just me,but thousands of other people and in a european competition you could easily see a stadium crowded with people,something unthinkable for the standards of the Bulgarian league.Such occasions cause a huge euphoria amongst the football fans in smaller countries and the football there benefits a lot.Even if our side is battered 12-0 by Barcelona or any other team,it would be an invaluable experience for the players and would help us raise the quality standards of our otherwise very humble and economically por league.On the other hand,for the big clubs matches like these are pointless.They already have a very busy schedule and find it difficult to cope with each and every league they participate in.That could be a good opportunity to give a chance to younger players,but ,you know,what if they drop points.It will be unfair to them,because in normal circumstances they would destroy the opposition,but lets say that we have a weekend fixture against MU or City or another classy opponent.Putting all your forces in a game against Levski Sofia ,for example, doesn't sounds serious to me.So the best solution would be to increase the number of teams in the Europa league to 64,because first of all small countries will witness good football against sides from the top part of the table although not the best,teams like West Brom and Everton will get European football and everybody would be satisfied,including the big dogs like us,United,Barca,Real ,etc.

i dont think its a good idea, 64 teams? too much, so we will have 16matches in a day, or they are going to play it every week, 8matches per week, then wat happens to the cup competitions, the midweek league games, its not going to be a great idea, 64teams is just too much, the big guns will always reach the latter stages and the lesser clubs wont have an european trophy, at least some get the exposure in europa league(like fulham going to finals in 2010), and get the chance to be recognized.

Bring it on! Europe Union in football for countries that can't get there by themselves. 7 teams from England means that my beloved Chelsea will play there always and I won't have to fear. On the other hand, Liverpool will be there to...

Financial motivated idea,clearly not football reason

The current format of CL is better. 32 Teams are enough. If they want to improve the quality of football around europe, then increase the cash awards for Europa league. At present, none of the teams want to play in Europa league as the winners get ard 10m. What a joke. If we change the format of CL to 64 teams, the quality will come down drastically. Also, we wont see a competitive leagues in country as everyone will be assured that they will qualify for CL if they manage top 7 position. The fight for the top 4 is much interesting than the fight for Top 2...

There always has to be a "superior" alternative for the sake of ambition and competitiveness...