Lausanne (AFP)

The new format of the Champions League after 2024 could be formalized within "a few weeks", announced Monday Andrea Agnelli, boss of Juventus Turin and the European Club Union (ECA).

"In a few weeks, everything should be more or less settled", estimated the Italian leader after a general assembly of the ECA, confirming the consensus around a remodeling of the group phase and the passage from 32 to 36 clubs.

The main open question, he said, is the allocation of these "four additional places": should a fourth French club be qualified?

The winner of a second zone championship?

Or the great Europeans for the benefit of their European past?

The European Leagues association, which brings together the major national championships, insists, for example, on making access to European competitions dependent on the results obtained in the championships, while a system based on the "UEFA coefficient" would favor clubs such as Arsenal, Dortmund or Liverpool, even after a failed season.

But apart from this point, the transition to the "Swiss system" is now acquired and "very very close to an ideal Champions League", praised Andrea Agnelli.

According to this format inspired by chess tournaments, the current group stage comprising 8 groups of 4 clubs, each playing six matches in a round-trip format to reach the round of 16, would therefore disappear in favor of a single group of 36 clubs.

From 2024, each team would play 10 matches against 10 different opponents, a mini-championship synonymous with increased media exposure and therefore inflated TV rights, before switching to the knockout phase.

- Le Graët "totally against" the Superligue -

The idea came from Dutchman Edwin Van der Sar, the former Manchester United goalkeeper who became executive director of Ajax Amsterdam, revealed Agnelli.

The imminence of an agreement on the future C1 buries for the moment the rumors around the creation of a private "Superleague" between European leaders, who had agitated continental football in the fall.

"Regarding these speculations, they have been in the air for twenty years," swept Agnelli, while this recurring threat of secession allows big clubs to put pressure on UEFA to defend their interests.

On the side of the French Football Federation, "we are totally against this Superleague. It only concerns a few rich clubs, it goes totally against the general mentality of Europe," declared its president Noël Le Graët on Monday. in an interview with AFP.

Regarding the future format of the C1, "the objective is in 2024 to have a French club or even two more in the Champions League", he admitted.

This formula of 10 group stage matches would certainly encroach more on the domestic calendar, but it would be possible "either to advance the championship, or to play a little more at Christmas or finish a little later", he said. valued.

© 2021 AFP