“Hungry for money” no longer a metaphor in international football. It is an indisputable reality. And the way in which UEFA had to change the competitive structure of the European cups, starting from this season, shows us the huge pressure this organization was under.
Vinicius (Real Madrid) won the Champions League trophy last season. PHOTO: The Truth Archive
Basically, the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League have expanded, with groups of 36 teams each, because the new format ensures more matches and more money. Without this “revolution“probably, we would have witnessed the escape of the giants and the implementation of the project called SuperLiga.
Starting this week, the three UEFA interclub competitions get underway, after the preliminaries are over. The Champions League will have the honor of opening the ball, with the following games:
Today
Juventus – PSV Eindhoven, 19.45, Digi Sport 1, Prima Sport 1
Young Boys – Aston Villa, 19.45, Digi Sport 2, Prima Sport 2
Bayern Munich – Dinamo Zagreb, 22.00, Digi Sport 3, Prima Sport 3
AC Milan – Liverpool, 22.00, Digi Sport 1, Prima Sport 1
Sporting Lisbon – Lille, 22.00, Prima Sport 4
Real Madrid – Stuttgart, 22.00, Digi Sport 2, Prima Sport 2
Tomorrow
Bologna – Shakhtar Donetsk, 19.45, Digi Sport 1, Prima Sport 1
Sparta Prague – FC Salzburg, 19.45, Digi Sport 2, Prima Sport 2
Celtic – Slovan Bratislava, 22.00, Prima Sport 4
Club Brugge – Dortmund, 22.00, Digi Sport 3, Prima Sport 3
Manchester City – Inter Milan, 22.00, Digi Sport 1, Prima Sport 1
PSG – Girona, 22.00, Digi Sport 2, Prima Sport 2
Each of the above formations will play a total of eight games: four at home, four away, each time against a different opponent. At the end of this phase, places 1-8 will advance directly to the round of 16. The occupiers of places 9-24 will play, round-trip, the play-off of the eighth. And the teams ranked 25-36 will be eliminated from this European season.
Naturally, the sums at stake are truly colossal in the new format of the Champions League. Here are the bonuses that UEFA will award:
*Group qualification: 20.2 million euros
*Victory in the group: 2.3 million euros
*Group draw: 800,000 euros
*Ranking on places 1-8: 2.2 million euros
*Ranking on places 9-36: 1.1 million euros
*Optimal qualification: 11.4 million euros
