Platini : If I Were UEFA President... (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Ahmed
- Start date
Platini abandons cup winners plan
Domestic cup winners will not get to play in the Champions League after a proposal from Uefa chief Michel Platini was rejected, BBC Sport understands.
But the team finishing third in the Premier League will now go straight into the group stages and the fourth team will face two qualifying rounds.
There will also be more places for champions of lower ranked nations if the proposals are ratified next month.
And this will mean a place in the group stage for Scotland's champions in 2009.
But with so few spots available for qualifiers the team finishing fourth in the Premier League will now face a much tougher qualification process.
Platini's most controversial proposal was for domestic cup winners to play off for the places that currently go to the teams finishing fourth in the top European leagues, but this idea has been dropped.
Platini had outlined his plans to Uefa's European Professional Football Strategy Council, a 16-member group comprising of officials from Europe's leagues, associations and clubs in Nyon, Switzerland.
The new changes will be ratified at Uefa's executive committee meeting in Lucerne on 1 December.
BBC sports editor Mihir Bose said: "Platini wanted the new club champions to come in from the less privileged parts of Europe.
"He has got that part of the plan through - six new clubs will come in.
"But the other part of the proposal, which involved the cup winners, has been completely abandoned."
The meeting's other significant outcome was the automatic qualification of the team finishing third in the top leagues, including the Premier League.
"The Premier League has won a thumping victory over Platini," added Bose.
The plan had been opposed by the G14, the body which represents 18 of Europe's leading clubs including Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, who said any change would devalue the reputation of the Champions League.
Their view was backed by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
"You have to be careful not to change the Champions League too much by bringing in even more weaker teams because you could find yourself with games with no meaning," he said.
"That would be very dangerous for the quality of the competition."
Platini 0-1 G14
Domestic cup winners will not get to play in the Champions League after a proposal from Uefa chief Michel Platini was rejected, BBC Sport understands.
But the team finishing third in the Premier League will now go straight into the group stages and the fourth team will face two qualifying rounds.
There will also be more places for champions of lower ranked nations if the proposals are ratified next month.
And this will mean a place in the group stage for Scotland's champions in 2009.
But with so few spots available for qualifiers the team finishing fourth in the Premier League will now face a much tougher qualification process.
Platini's most controversial proposal was for domestic cup winners to play off for the places that currently go to the teams finishing fourth in the top European leagues, but this idea has been dropped.
Platini had outlined his plans to Uefa's European Professional Football Strategy Council, a 16-member group comprising of officials from Europe's leagues, associations and clubs in Nyon, Switzerland.
The new changes will be ratified at Uefa's executive committee meeting in Lucerne on 1 December.
BBC sports editor Mihir Bose said: "Platini wanted the new club champions to come in from the less privileged parts of Europe.
"He has got that part of the plan through - six new clubs will come in.
"But the other part of the proposal, which involved the cup winners, has been completely abandoned."
The meeting's other significant outcome was the automatic qualification of the team finishing third in the top leagues, including the Premier League.
"The Premier League has won a thumping victory over Platini," added Bose.
The plan had been opposed by the G14, the body which represents 18 of Europe's leading clubs including Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, who said any change would devalue the reputation of the Champions League.
Their view was backed by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.
"You have to be careful not to change the Champions League too much by bringing in even more weaker teams because you could find yourself with games with no meaning," he said.
"That would be very dangerous for the quality of the competition."
Platini 0-1 G14
There have been a couple of 6-0 plus scorelines in the last 5 years.It could be down to a bad day for the losing team,or simply the quality of the winning team.No?A team like Roma got mauled 7-0 by Manure,but i dont think that implies that Roma werent a good enough team for the CL.I thought it was down to one bad day at the office for Roma,and one great day for Manchester United.I think there IS Europe's top club competition,and you cant do to much when scores like 7-0 or 8-0 pop up.
If you look at the teams that have been at the end of such horrific scorelines,you get Werder Bremen against Monaco,Olympiakos against Juventus,Roma against Manchester United,Beskitas against Liverpool etc.These arent exactly 'bad' teams IMO.Bremen and Roma are capable of doing well in the CL,and even Besiktas beat Liverpool at home if im not wrong.When was the last time a team from Denmark or Austria got hit for 6 plus goals?
Sure,the CL has poor teams,but every competition has poor teams.You cant expect the Worldcup to have the top 10 teams only.You cant expect Serie A to have the top 10 teams only.You cant expect the EPL to have the top 10 teams only.Weaker teams are a part of the package,and they always will be.Eliminating them from the competition altogether is not the answer IMO.
If you look at the teams that have been at the end of such horrific scorelines,you get Werder Bremen against Monaco,Olympiakos against Juventus,Roma against Manchester United,Beskitas against Liverpool etc.These arent exactly 'bad' teams IMO.Bremen and Roma are capable of doing well in the CL,and even Besiktas beat Liverpool at home if im not wrong.When was the last time a team from Denmark or Austria got hit for 6 plus goals?
Sure,the CL has poor teams,but every competition has poor teams.You cant expect the Worldcup to have the top 10 teams only.You cant expect Serie A to have the top 10 teams only.You cant expect the EPL to have the top 10 teams only.Weaker teams are a part of the package,and they always will be.Eliminating them from the competition altogether is not the answer IMO.
I agree with G14 on this one. The Champions League should be the best of the best. They should not be looking to add more weak clubs in place of fourth place clubs in elite leagues. Midtable English, Italian and Spanish clubs are more than a match for top clubs in lesser leagues, let alone top 4.
Don't take teams away, but don't add lousier teams either.
Don't take teams away, but don't add lousier teams either.