Dirty European Super League dozen were wrong but Champions League needs fixing

I know what you're thinking because I'm thinking the same: Please no more about the European Super League.

It almost goes without saying the dirty dozen who wanted to turn football on its head were wrong, although I did quite enjoy founding chairman Florentino Perez's reasoning behind the move. "Your Honour, it's the only way Real Madrid can sign Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe!"

Greedy and selfish? Guilty as charged. However, in all the ESL furore, Uefa managed to sneak through one of their worst ever ideas - and yes that is a big statement when they have already announced the horrendous Europa Conference League for next season.

I've not read all about the Conference but I saw the bit that stated the knockout stage will include third-placed teams from the Europa League group stage and that was enough for me.

But Uefa's newest brainwave will see the Champions League group stage become one massive table with everyone playing ten games rather than six and 24 teams progressing, eight directing and 16 via a playoff, for the knockout stages. It sounds rubbish.

There is a better solution to the Champions League/European Super League - get rid of the Europa League and have a 64-team Champions League group stage with 16 groups of four providing a first knockout stage of 32 sides. The biggest domestic leagues would be represented in greater numbers and it still offers many others nations more opportunities too.

It could look like this: Eight from top coefficient (currently England), seven from two (Spain), then the nations ranked three and four (Italy/Germany) would get six. The team ranked fifth (France) could get four, and sixth (Portugal) three clubs. then it would be two from countries ranked seventh to 13 which at the moment is Netherlands, Russia, Belgium, Austria, Scotland, Ukraine and Turkey.

The champions of 14-20 - Denmark, Cyprus, Serbia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Switzerland and Greece get direct entry along with the winners of a separate competition (more on that later). That's 56 teams and the other champions from Israel in 21st down to San Marino are in qualifiers for the remaining eight slots.

Your seeding for the group stage would be on domestic position so every league game counts and each country could decide to use a cup competition for one spot with the coefficients changing on European performances.

The 16 teams who finish third in the group could go into a newly-formed separate competition for the last 32. They will be joined by 16 teams who will have made it this far by virtue of winning a series of one-legged knockout ties from sides that don't have anywhere to go with the Europa groups axed - the teams in third and fourth from the middling domestic leagues, clubs like Feyenoord or Anderlecht.

It's true the Super League would have been terrible, but they are right to question the Champions League composition as the group phase offers nothing like the thrill of the knockout stages.

I mentioned last week that Barcelona are playing well and since then they have scored nine goals in two games. Continue to ride the Barca bandwagon at a Villarreal side who may have at least one eye on their season-defining Europa League semi-final with Arsenal.

Best bet

Barcelona -0.75 Asian handicap v Villarreal 3.15pm Sunday
1pt 47-50 bet365

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