Rich-club strolls make Europe dull

THE Champions League urgently needs a revamp.

UEFA must tighten its ineffectual Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules if the group stages aren’t to become a procession of the haves overwhelming the have-nots.

A major rethink on the format is required to reduce the mismatches we saw last week.

Manchester City and a Paris Saint-germain side inspired by Neymar (right) strolled to 4-0 and 5-0 away victories respectively, while Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea (6-0) and the Glazers’ Manchester United (3-0) also enjoyed easy wins.

There are clear warning signs that the growing financial chasm between the super-rich and the rest is making the group stages more uncompetitive.

From the first 16 matches, only Besiktas, CSKA Moscow, Shakhtar Donesk and Sporting Lisbon beat clubs with bigger budgets – and when revenue margins are widest, so are the scorelines.

On Tuesday night, the seven winning clubs had an aggregate margin of 25-3. Great for the fans of the victorious teams, but not such an appealing spectacle for the global television audience – key to the competition’s finances.

UEFA needs fresh ideas to keep the early stages entertaining and relevant.

Stricter FFP regulation is essential. To create a more level playing field UEFA must make their “market pool” fairer. It presently favours clubs from nations with the biggest TV audiences.

The group stages need slimming down from 32 clubs to 16.

One idea is to start with a knock-out round, leading to four groups of four teams.

Cue howls of rage from the big boys, fearing an early exit and lost revenue.

But UEFA require a solution that’s fair to all... and quickly.