the essential
The new version of the C1 starts this Tuesday, September 17. With more teams and more matches, this format divides the main players. Many have criticized it, due to an overloaded schedule.
New anthem, new format, the Champions League 2.0 begins this Tuesday, September 17. Gone are the eight groups of four teams, a mini-championship of 36 is born with a minimum of eight matches for each participant. Each club will therefore play at least two additional matches.
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While Aleksander Ceferin, the UEFA president, defends “a new format synonymous with more fairness, more suspense, more intensity, more emotion and more uncertainty”, not everyone is of this opinion. In particular, those most concerned.
Overloaded schedule
Football fans and supporters can rejoice. There will be more matches and prestigious clashes to follow. But, on the players’ side, the tone is different. “Everyone is fed up,” fumed Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker at a press conference. “No one asks the players what they think about adding extra matches.”
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Not far from Liverpool, at rival Manchester City, Manuel Akanji agreed with this observation. Faced with the influx of matches, the Swiss was worried: “There is no break in the winter so if we are lucky, we have two weeks and then we have to be back for the following season. Then, the season after that, there is the World Cup. It’s endless.” Before letting go: “Maybe I should retire at 30.”
The Coaches’ Puzzle
Despite a plethora of players, Real Madrid is also suffering from the abundance of matches. While Aurélien Tchouaméni and Jude Bellingham are coming out of the infirmary, Brahim Diaz is joining Eduardo Camavinga, David Alaba and Dani Ceballos. “The problem is the schedule is too demanding” pointed out Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of the defending champion.
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Consultant for the British channel and former coach of the French Espoirs team, Thierry Henry is sounding the alarm. “Do the math for a player who plays every match,” asks the Frenchman. “And let’s not just talk about the physical aspect, let’s also talk about the mental aspect that it takes to always have to perform.”
We have done the calculation. In case of success in various competitions, some clubs could play more than 70 matches, just that.
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