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UEFA says a ‘final eight’ will be considered as a way to round out the Champions League and Europa League from 2024.
The single-country, single-stage format was adopted for practical purposes as an effective way to conclude competitions last season in a campaign heavily disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, and it proved to be a huge success as a show.
The governing body of European soccer is bound by contracts with broadcasters to revert to the regular two-match system for quarter-finals and semi-finals for the remainder of the current cycle, but has not ruled out a change to the format beyond that.
Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA’s deputy general secretary, told the Palestinian Authority news agency: “A good rule of thumb is never to exclude something that is valuable or has potential.”
“We know there are many elements that need to be considered, such as the schedule and organizational constraints, fan participation, financial implications, but we will surely study this format and its variations for our future discussions.
“The singles knockout games obviously favor uncertainty and emotions.
“We received a great response from clubs, broadcasters and other partners, as well as fans. The circumstances made this format essential, but the result could not be better, as well as the degree of satisfaction.”
The final phase of the 2019-20 Champions League took place in Lisbon, while the German cities of Cologne, Duisburg, Dusseldorf and Gelsenkirchen hosted the conclusion of the Europa League.
(Image: Miguel A Lopes / POOL / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock)
The final of the Women’s Champions League was held in the Basque cities of Bilbao and San Sebastián, while the Men’s Youth Champions League was completed in Switzerland.
Marchetti admitted that organizing the four competitions had been the result of great cooperation.
“The football community really worked together: without the joint work and the unity of intentions with the national associations, leagues and clubs, nothing would have been achieved,” he said.
“And since we only had two months to organize simultaneous tournaments in Portugal, Germany and Spain, the federations and local authorities supported us enormously.”
He said UEFA will take the same “firm determination” that helped them carry out the final stages of last season’s competitions into the remainder of 2020-21, which is taking place in the context of a second wave of infections. by coronavirus throughout the continent.
And he also pointed out how much work had already been done for the preliminary stages of this season.
“Everyone watched the eight tournaments at the end of August. What hardly anyone knows is that since the beginning of August almost 500 UEFA matches have already been played,” he said.
“All qualifying rounds to the Champions League and Europa League (no club was excluded from the access list), two international windows for men and one for women, under-21. There are many restrictions and a strict protocol to apply with an incredible number of tests on all teams, but these difficulties do not scare us. “
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