The lottery organizers of the Champions League probably could not have asked for a quality, spicy and emotional meeting like Barcelona against PSG that will open the quarterfinals of 2021. The flashbacks to the famous Remontada from 2017, which gave birth to the Hebrew language coin “were not like this “, Constitute the best advertisement for lovers of the knockout stages of the most important enterprise. Even the last of the cynics and opponents will not disagree that the same ancient UEFA method, based on two games and away goals, has risen to prominence in recent years with upheavals and huge dramas that have made the Champions League the quality football product in our counties.
Evidence of the power of the double knockout phase can be seen in UEFA’s new proposal submitted last week to European associations and clubs ahead of the next round of games in 20/24. According to reports, and with the intention of removing the Super League threat from its head, UEFA is pushing to increase 36 groups (vs. 32) and almost certainly eliminate the houses phase. That is, instead of 8 houses of 4 teams, we are expected to predict the near future in a league where each team will participate in 10 games almost randomly from the concept of “multiplayer = multiplayer revenue”. Only one thing should remain the same: the knockout phase will retain its character. That is: two games at each stage, except of course the final game.
And after all that, one must wake up to the chaotic reality of 20/21. The Corona has faced challenges and obstacles for the UEFA since the first days of the season. The European Football Association was determined to play at all costs. For this reason it did not cancel the qualifying stages of the European factories in the summer (only shortened them to a single game), continued the Nations League and Euro playoffs. The number of flights and the epidemic), and intends to implement the grandiose plan to hold the Euro in the summer in 12 different cities across Europe, even if it is clear to everyone that the stadiums will at best be half-naked.
The Final 8 bubble format that was successfully tried in the summer was of course shelved, out of optimism that it would be more or less normal to return to routine in February-May 2021. But the wave of serious illness that plagued Europe as a result of the various variants gave rise to an absurd and unprecedented situation in the Champions League. Following the ban by many European countries on flights from the UK to land on their territory, fate wanted and led Leipzig to host Liverpool in Budapest, where Mönchengladbach’s home match against Manchester City will also take place, while Atletico Madrid will open its living room to Chelsea in Bucharest.
To close the corner, it should be noted that it was recently reported that under the restrictions of the German Ministry of Health, Leipzig will be forced to stay in solitary confinement for 10 days after returning from the rematch that will take place in early March in Liverpool. This means that there is a very small chance that the Germans will reach Anfield and the game is expected to move to an alternative pitch (outside the UK). Imagine Liverpool deciding to host the rematch in Budapest as well. Two games without a crowd in one stadium, with equal conditions for both teams. Can be amusing the reaction of the coach who loses after discovering that the opponent has advanced to the quarterfinals thanks to away goals. Sounds like a troll, right? But there is a good chance it will happen.
In any case, some teams will copy their booth outside their country in some of the games, when there is a reasonable chance that the games in the quarterfinals and maybe the semifinals will not exactly take place in their original stadiums (maybe even in vaccinated Israel). This of course creates and further creates inequality and impaired sportiness. For anyone who doubts the home side in the Corona era, where there is no crowd, here is a statistic that strengthens the claim: 14 of the 16 teams participating in the quarterfinals of the season, scored more home points than away in their local league. The exceptions are the Italian Lazio and Atalanta. Therefore, the importance of home hospitality should not be underestimated. Apparently there is still no substitute for getting to know the local stadium, despite the lack of encouragement and push in the stands.
The possibility of shortening the stages to one crucial game until the final, as happened last year, is out of the question. UEFA knows this is probably the fairest thing to do, but financially, it would be a major blow to teams and broadcasters and practically unrealistic to hold a bubble during league games. This is of course not the only concern before the knockout stage opens. It seems the home challenge will not be the last teams will have to So far, the crowded Corona season has led to quite a few injuries and setbacks, take for example Real Madrid who appeared in the league game against Hattafa last week with only two fielders on the bench from the senior team, or Atletico Madrid who could not make any offensive substitutions against Granada on Saturday. The latter, with the exception of youth players.We did not mention at all Liverpool carrying a cheesecake with the loss of three senior brakes following the curse of the knee ligaments.
Many teams have already gone through Corona outbreaks at such and such stages of the season. Porto, Atletico Madrid and Atalanta have already registered more than 10 verified players. PSG has cumulatively lost almost all of its first lineup this season after its stars fell for this damn disease. And who knows if European champions Bayern Munich, who have revealed three positive players in the last two weeks, are not at the beginning of an unrestrained spread, right at the most inopportune moment for them. One can also look at it from the opposite angle. Barcelona and Chelsea are the two teams that have managed to keep a verified number of players (5 players together) relative to the others, but no one guarantees them immunity later on. On the contrary.
It should be remembered that in a season that began late and without real preparation, UEFA crammed the 96 home stage games into a two-month marathon (October-December), when in the middle the stars migrated to international games. After that, most teams had almost no winter break due to the schedule The new one, not even for the Bundesliga representatives. Increased to do Bayern Munich who even flew specifically to Qatar earlier this month and returned with the World Cup for clubs. A classic example of the illogical load is Manchester City who will arrive for the meeting against Mönchengladbach next week, which will be their 21st in 74 days, meaning a game every three and a half days.
A study conducted in late November by the PremierInjuries website found that in the first nine rounds of the season, 23 percent more muscle injuries were recorded than in the same period last year. The numbers are probably still higher than usual. Just for the sake of illustration, if all 16 teams participating in the quarterfinals were drawn to play this week, as of this writing the following players would not have been available for the above reasons: Neymar, Angel Di Maria, Sergio Ramos, Eden Hazard, Danny Carvajal, Kevin de Bruyne , Elki Gonduan, Enso Patti, Felipe Coutinho, Joao Felix, Jose Maria Jimenez, Thomas Lamar, Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry, Leon Gorczka, Fabino, Virgil Van Dyke, Diego Giota, Thiago Silva, Lucas Ocampus , Juan Cuadrado, Arthur, Roman Burki, Axel Witsel and this is of course a partial list.
In the routine years the Champions League is usually decided by the teams with the most brilliant ideas and the coaches with the audacity and inspiration. This season it is not inconceivable that what will determine the identity of the champion is the ability of that candidate to evade the disease, the incessant injuries and hope of course that the loss of “homeliness” will not adversely affect her. The knockout stages in recent years have always maintained a texture of high quality, sparks of surprise, many goals and huge dramas. It shouldn’t change too much this coming spring, but maybe nonetheless, the element of luck will really get a significant share, more than we tend to think.
