SUPPORTERS are bound to like more top-class football. But the players? Not so much. 2 Karren Brady insists Uefa chiefs need to listen to the players Credit: Getty 2 The new Champions League format has added even more fixtures Credit: EPA A number of them are so tired at the thought of an expanded football programme in Europe and to an extension of the Club World Cup next summer that they are threatening to strike.
The people who pay to watch ask: Why? Premier League stars are millionaires and the demand for additional Continental matches means greater fame and bigger earnings. Players understand this reaction but as Aston Villa captain John McGinn pointed out after the win over Young Boys in a freshly minted Champions League: “At times, the mental side of things you need to switch off. Read More on Football MAN ALIVE Man City face being expelled from all comps if guilty of alleged rule breaches KAL TO ARMS Chelsea CL winner, 39, comes out of retirement to join second division club “It is hard to churn them out when you are playing 70-plus games a season and then internationals.
There’s not a lot of time to rest.” Uefa have added two extra fixtures — it could be four for some — to a competition which had been a straightforward formula of sorting out the better teams from leagues of four clubs. The new arrangement opens with a league of 36 clubs — a magical confusion of ties in four sections each between clubs of similar standards before knockout matches begin wit.