Inter Milan President Brands New Champions League Format ‘Interesting’ – But Argues ‘One Aspect Could Be Improved’ | OneFootball

Inter Milan President Beppe Marotta feels that the new Champions League format is something of a mixed bag.

The Nerazzurri President spoke to reporters, via FCInter1908. He noted the fact that teams from the same leagues can face in the knockout rounds as one problem with the format.

This season has seen a significant change to the format of the Champions League.

Rather than having a group stage with eight groups of four vying for sixteen places in the knockout rounds, there is a “league phase” with 36 teams.

Those 36 teams play eight matches apiece among themselves.

The results of those matches form a table. Then, the top eight teams in that table go on directly to the knockout rounds.

Meanwhile, teams in ninth through 24th place in the table face a playoff round. Therefore, they are vying for the remaining eight spots in the round of sixteen.

Inter President Marotta Considers New Champions League Format Mixed Bag

This season, Inter managed to go straight to the knockout rounds.

The Nerazzurri qualified directly for the round of sixteen by finishing fourth in the “league phase” table. Therefore, they avoided the playoff round.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 31: A detailed view of the UEFA Champions League trophy is seen on a plinth prior to the UEFA Champions League 2023/24 final match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid CF at Wembley Stadium on May 31, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

However, the likes of Atalanta, AC Milan. and Juventus did not.

Inter President Beppe Marotta gave the view that “This new format for the Champions League is quite novel.”

“It gets the adrenaline going,” he admitted.

“We finished fourth in the first phase,” continued the Nerazzurri President. “We’re in a very interesting situation.”

“But then there are two Italian teams who could meet in the next round,” Marotta went on.

In the end, Juventus and Milan avoided one another in the playoff round. They drew PSV and Feyenoord respectively, but could have instead gotten one another.

“In that respect, I think this could be better prevented from happening,” Marotta argued.