More clubs to get exposure

– European football’s governing body approved the creation of a third-tier Uefa club competition, a tournament which will mirror the current Champions League and Europa League format from 2021.

At their meeting in Dublin, Uefa’s Executive Committee finalised plans to introduce the event, with the working title ‘UEL2’ and featuring 32 teams in the group stage, in the 2021 to 2024 competition cycle.

The Europa League group stage, meanwhile, will be reduced from 48 teams to 32.

Uefa said that the Champions League would remain unaltered, meaning the four top-ranked leagues – currently Spain, England, Germany and Italy – would each keep four guaranteed places in the group stage.

“No changes will be made to the format and access list of the Uefa Champions League,” said Uefa.

The umbrella organisation representing Europe’s domestic leagues had asked Uefa to reduce the number of places guaranteed to teams from the top leagues, reversing changes made for the current cycle.

Uefa said the new setup would ensure that at least 34 countries would be represented in the group stages of club competitions, compared to today’s total of 26.

“The new club competition makes Uefa’s club competitions more inclusive than ever before,” President Aleksander Ceferin (above) said.

“There will be more matches for more clubs, with more associations represented in the group stages. This competition was borne out of ongoing dialogue with clubs through the European Club Association.”

The format will see eight groups of four teams, followed by the round of 16, quarterfinals, semi-finals and final. Like the Europa League, matches will be played on Thursdays.

As with the established competitions, there will also be four rounds of qualifying matches in July and August. – Reuters

Dublin