Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at 9:53 AM• Rian Rosendaal

In the new format of the Champions League, there will not only be a different competition model from 2024. The top clubs in Europe are also working behind the scenes on the plan to leave each other’s top players alone. Booster Andrea Agnelli firmly believes that an agreement will eventually be reached with UEFA on the new design of the billion dollar ball.

“We are very close to what I think is the ideal Champions League”, says the optimistic Agnelli in the Italian media. In addition to being chairman of Juventus, the director is also president of the ECA, the association of the top clubs in Europe. “I really think the Swiss model is beautiful. It offers great opportunities for the participants in this European competition. The knockout duels are crucial for any competition. This is all very close to the ideal Champions League. it could only take a few weeks before it is completely finished “, Agnelli jubilates.

In the new model of the Champions League, the maximum 36 participants will play a total of ten group matches, after which a final score will be used to determine which clubs advance to the next round. With the new format of the most important European club tournament, the call for a European Super League is increasingly fading into the background. Agnelli also emphasizes that the balance between competition football and the duels in a European context must be in order. The Juventus president has already had some lively discussions about this with UEFA president Alexander Ceferin.

Agnelli is looking next to another play system for a protective structure in the new Champions League. He is thinking of agreements between top clubs regarding not taking over each other’s star players. Agnelli puts forward more agenda items. “No transfers of one hundred million euros and more in the Champions League. This means that more attention will be paid to attracting players from the smaller football countries. We are still in discussion about this. But it is certainly one of the biggest challenges in terms of the reforms that we are now facing we envision, ”said Agnelli.