So maybe it wasn’t that bad after all? For all the negative noise around a confusing format, player welfare, and financial disparity, the new-look Champions League ‘group stage’ ultimately had fans on the edge of their seats right up until the dying seconds of Wednesday’s games. More high-level clashes early in the competition, European giants on the brink of elimination before the knockout stages, and the TNT Sport goals show striking solid gold. And for English football, interest remains high with four Premier League sides still alive.
But before we lavish too much praise on UEFA's new brainchild, perhaps now is the time when the tournament does turn forward progress into an own goal. The knockout phase play-off draw takes place from 12pm on Friday. And we can already be sure of two mouth-watering ties, with Manchester City and Celtic awaiting to see if they will face Bayern Munich or Real Madrid respectively.
Liverpool ’s reward for topping the 36-team League Phase could even be a two-legged tie with French giants PSG . But herein lies the problem, from post-Friday onwards, teams will know what fate awaits them on a round-by-round basis. And the elite sides are likely to already be plotting their route to the final at the Allianz Arena in Munich on May 31.
Club bosses may welcome such a luxury, able to provisionally draw up travel plans for potential away games. But the anticipation for fans, the media live draw blogs, the employees nipping to the bathroom to sec.
