Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Champions League reform will fix current problems - Rummenigge

Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has told kicker the upcoming Champions League reform will make the competition "stronger and more attractive."

Rummenigge, who also serves as European Club Association (ECA) chairman, was responding to critics claiming the Champions League is destroying itself as the result of the growing gap between clubs.

The group stage of the 2016-17 Champions League season saw 14 of the 96 matches result in a win margin of four or more goals -- the second highest number in the competition's history.

Clubs from only six nations -- Spain, Germany, England, Italy, France and Portugal -- reached the knockout stage and, in all but one group, the two wealthiest sides progressed.

Additionally, only five of the 16 games from the final round of group matches this week decided which clubs would progress to the knockout stage.

Rummenigge, though, said the forthcoming changes to the competition -- which will come into force in 2018-19 and see 16 of the 32 clubs coming from the top four leagues -- will help address the problems.

"For a couple of years now, qualification for the knockout stages has been decided after four or a maximum five matchdays," Rummenigge told the German football magazine. "There might be a fight for the first spot. That's it. With the reform, more quality and more emotions will enter the competition."

In addition to the guaranteed places for the top four leagues -- currently the Bundesliga, La Liga, the Premier League and Serie A -- there will also be a redistribution of the prize money, which could result in bigger clubs earning €60 million more per season while smaller clubs receive an increase of just €6m, according to UEFA projections published by kicker in September.

When asked whether the reform was a step in the right direction, Rummenigge replied: "Yes. It was overdue. It will make the competition more attractive and stronger."

Asked whether clubs from the smaller leagues brought something to the Champions League or were more of a burden, Rummenigge added: "Participants from smaller leagues, for instance from Scandinavia or eastern Europe, fundamentally always have difficulties to keep up with those from the big five leagues: Germany, England, Spain, Italy, France.

"Still, that doesn't make them a burden."

With half of the 32 places taken by the top four nations, and one guaranteed to the winner of Europa League, the remaining 47 UEFA member nations are set to compete for only 15 to 16 places in the playoffs.

Rummenigge said that was sufficient, adding: "UEFA also has a political task, and it exercises it by offering clubs from smaller nations the theoretical chance to qualify for Champions League. It's been like this in the past, and it will stay like this in the future."

In October, FC Copenhagen CEO Anders Horsholt confirmed talks were taking place over a new international league involving the biggest clubs in Scandinavia, Scotland, the Netherlands and Belgium in an effort to avoid being left behind. 

Horsholt told BT that as a result of the forthcoming changes to the Champions League, "we have to look at how we can secure our future as an international club. In short, we have no alternative."

^ Back to Top ^