This year’s Champions League came with some changes to the league’s format, causing a very unpredictable and exciting season.

The main change to this season’s format is the number of teams involved in the league along with the number of matches they play. Sophomore soccer player Mathias Moreno-Bric said, “Now the league gets more money, a bigger prize pool, and more money to the clubs because of the increase of games and teams.” The new “Swiss” format increases the number of teams from 32 to 36, and increases the number of matches that each team plays from six to eight. Now each of the eight matches are also against different teams rather than the old format where two matches were played against three teams each. The increase in matches has surged earnings of the league to over five billion euros (~5.9 billion USD). Because of this revenue increase, the prize pool has increased to 2.5 billion euros (~3 billion dollars), and individual well-performing clubs have made more money as well. For example; Liverpool made over 90 million euros this season from individual club earnings.

The status of the Champion’s League seems to be well received among fans as the new changes make fans optimistic for the future. The new changes have claims to increase competitiveness, create a more unpredictable environment, and dynamic tactics. Freshman soccer player Luc Hardink said, “I think this season has been more unpredictable because with more teams and matches it feels more random.” The new format also does not allow teams to qualify without finishing all eight of their matches, unlike the old format, which increases the competitiveness of teams to keep fighting for a top eight team spot. Some arguments have been made saying that the increase in matches is fatiguing players and making matches more difficult on them, decreasing the quality of the matches. Hardink said, “The players are more fatigued because of the increase in matches which makes the matches […] less entertaining.”

Club performances this year have been exciting and full of emotion. The recent quarter-final matches between Atletico Madrid and F.C. Barcelona was very controversial. The total score from both games ended in a win for Atletico (3-2). The match was controversial due to the tactic used by Diego Simeone (manager of Atletico Madrid), he used the “park the bus tactic” creating a near impenetrable defensive block. This tactic felt unfair as Atletico was up two points in the first leg, so their offensive tactics were no longer in use. In addition, the referee of the second leg called nearly no yellow or red cards for Atletico but did for Barcelona as well as calling Ferran Torres’ goal offside (Barcelona). Moreno-Bric said, “Barca was robbed for the second year in a row [referring to last year’s champions league game against Inter Milan], the referee was so unfair when it came to fouls and that was offside.” This and many other games were filled with emotion and conflict,  fueling a very energetic and memorable season for Europe’s favorite league. Hardinck said, “This season has been good for the league, with the new format I’m optimistic for the future of Soccer.”