Martin Kallen is the boss of European football competitions. He talks to blue Sport about the Champions League, which has been reformed this season, and reveals who his heart beats for.
As of this season, the Champions League and Europa League have a new look. The group stage with 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four, is history. There is now a league phase with 36 teams. On Wednesday, all 18 matches will take place simultaneously on the eighth and final matchday of the league phase.
blue Sport shows all Champions League matches live
- On Wednesday, all 18 Champions League matches will be kicked off at the same time (9.00 pm) on the last matchday of the league phase. blue Sport will broadcast all matches live.
- If you don't want to choose a match, you can follow the games in the conference.
How is the new mode being received by the clubs and fans? And what are UEFA's own conclusions? Martin Kallen, CEO of UEFA Events SA and, according to manager Magazin, one of the "most powerful players in the European football landscape", answers these questions in an interview with blue Sport.
How the new mode works
- 36 clubs are represented in both the Champions League and the Europa League.
- The group stage has been replaced by a league phase. There is now only one large table per competition.
- Each team plays four home and four away matches against different teams in the league phase. There are no first and second legs.
- The teams in places 1 to 8 progress directly to the round of 16.
- The remaining places in the round of 16 are played out in knockout playoffs. A team ranked 9th to 16th will face a team ranked 17th to 24th, with a first and second leg deciding who progresses.
- The losers of the knockout play-offs and clubs ranked 25th to 36th are eliminated from the Champions League and Europa League respectively. For them, the European adventure ends this season.
- From the round of 16 onwards, the familiar tournament format continues. A first and second leg between two teams will decide who progresses to the next round. The winners of the two competitions will be crowned in a single final match.
Martin Kallen, the new mode was viewed critically by many at the beginning. Now the last matchday of the league phase promises pure excitement. What is UEFA's conclusion?
From our side, we knew right from the start that it had to be good. Because we worked a lot on this mode, together with the clubs, the committee, with a lot of people, including fan organizations. It wasn't a quick fix, but was prepared for a long time. With a new format, you never know exactly how it will turn out. But basically we were already sure that this was the right mode for these club competitions.
Marcel Reif admitted after match day 7 that he had been wrong about the new mode. It was more exciting than ever before and he was looking forward to the last matchday of the league phase. In the summer, he was still critical.
Some clubs were also concerned about the new mode due to the increased number of matches. Or was it mainly the coaches and players of these clubs who expressed criticism?
You have to look at it fundamentally. A lot is demanded of the teams, players, coaches and staff today. There's the league, there are international competitions and there are also national team games. If you add it all up, the best players in particular have a lot of games to play throughout the year. In the Champions League, you only have two more games in total, otherwise everything is exactly the same as before.
Has the opinion of the clubs changed? What is the feedback like?
It was very important for us to inform all the clubs about the whole system and to discuss it with them. Once the system was in place, we talked to everyone again and explained exactly what it was all about. We did the same with the media and the fan organizations. I think that was very, very important. In the beginning, there are always people and clubs who say: 'Great, there's something new'. Others say: 'Why do we need something new, the old one was good enough and we don't really want any change'. But when we're out and about now, when we talk to the clubs, the fans and the journalists, the majority are very positive about the new mode.
What form does the exchange with the fans take?
A lot is done via fan organizations. But we also conduct our own surveys. We get feedback directly or indirectly from various sources.
Were you never worried that there might be too many games for the fans at some point?
You have to look at the whole pyramid and of course a fan knows exactly what they want to watch and what they don't want to watch. Basically, though, you have to be careful not to increase the number of games even further.
On Wednesday, 18 matches will take place at the same time. What does UEFA expect from this unprecedented monster matchday?
It's a very important matchday. It's the last of the first season in the league phase. There are still different possibilities if you look at the ranking. (...) If you look down, Manchester City against Bruges will certainly be a very interesting game. Or Stuttgart against PSG. Bruges need a point, then they're through for sure and then it could be that Manchester City are eliminated and so on. So it's very, very exciting. We hoped it would be exciting right to the end and this season we can say: it's worked out quite well.
Stuttgart host PSG, if the game ends in a draw, they both go through. They could make a "packet" ...
We always hope for fair play, they should play it on the pitch. But even in previous years, we've always had starting positions like this where you could think something like that. But we believe the two teams will play to the full. We'll find out on Thursday morning.
How are you personally following the last matchday?
I'm going to Bern for the YB game. I'm a bit of a Young Boys fan as a Swiss. It would be very nice if YB could get another point. Or even a win, that would be even nicer. Let's see if they can still get a good result (YB still have 0 points after the seventh matchday and are bottom of the table; editor's note).
Are you allowed to keep your fingers crossed for anyone in your role?
Yes, we at UEFA have many people from different nations in Europe who work here. And as a Swiss, you're always happy when Swiss clubs or national teams win. And as someone from Bern who has always followed Young Boys a bit, I naturally hope that they get another good result.
What's your prediction for the YB v Red Star Belgrade game?
(Laughs) They haven't scored many goals yet in the second half of the season (3 games, 0 goals; editor's note). Maybe a 0:0. That's perhaps the best you can hope for.