Jamie Carragher is among those sold on the new Champions League format. “It’s been brilliant,” the former Liverpool defender wrote on social media on Thursday. “Instead of the bore fest we’ve had for years on the last match day, next week will be sensational.”
UEFA will be absolutely delighted with themselves. It appears they’ve already managed to convince a significant number of pundits and supporters that the ‘Swiss Model’ has been a success; a positive development for the competition and, by consequence, the game itself.
Nothing could be further from the truth, though. The format’s flaws have been brutally exposed and the only real beneficiaries of its introduction have been UEFA and Europe’s elite – which was the objective all along.