The new Champions League format kicks off Tuesday after more than six years of planning, one failed proposal and one Super League launch fiasco. In the end, storied clubs who pushed for change from UEFA and created turmoil in European soccer got most of what they wanted: More teams, more games and more of them against strong opponents, more money.
GENEVA — The new Champions League format kicks off Tuesday after more than six years of planning, one failed proposal and one Super League launch fiasco.
Ultimately, all 36 teams will be ranked from top to bottom in a single league standings that finishes in January instead of traditional four-team groups that would end in December. Recent champions Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich were among the top seeds. Low-ranked pot four included debutants Girona and Brest, and long-time absentees Aston Villa, Bologna and Stuttgart.
Also playing are the four teams with the most European Cup and Champions League titles in their 70-season history. It is also a night for fresh faces. Girona, which is in the same Abu Dhabi-backed ownership group as Man City, will make its European debut at Paris Saint-Germain. Atalanta hosts Arsenal which has lost captain Martin Odegaard to an ankle injury suffered playing for Norway on Monday.
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