Will the new Champions league "swiss" format be in the new FM?

[samrnpage]

Starting 2024 the champions league will have a huge revamp, for better or worse

The current format sees teams divided up into eight groups of four, with teams playing each other home and away over six games.

The top two in each group progress to the last 16 when it becomes a knockout tournament, with ties played home and away over two legs, before the final at a neutral venue over one match.

The new format will see the initial phase contain one single league table, which includes all teams.

Each club will play eight league stage games against different opponents, with four home ties and four away.

The top eight will go through to the knockout stage, while those from ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged play-off to progress.

Uefa added that "similar format changes will also be applied to the Europa League (eight matches in the league stage) and Europa Conference League (six matches in the league stage) and both will also include 36 teams in the league phase".

My question is - After 2024 in game, will the format change to this like in real life?

[XaW]

With the game having the UEFA licences, I think it's very likely that all confirmed changes will be implemented.

[grade]

Most likely. I also would like confirmation.

The real question is, if we don't like this system, can we change it in the editor?

[rusty217]

6 hours ago, grade said:

Most likely. I also would like confirmation.

The real question is, if we don't like this system, can we change it in the editor?

Definitely changable in the editor. It doesn't allow full functionality for continental competitions, so it wouldn't be as accurate as the official version with coefficients and whatnot, but it would definitely be possible. People have already made older versions of European competitions in the editor for FM22, so they'll surely do the same for FM23 too.

[grade]

13 minutes ago, rusty217 said:

Definitely changable in the editor. It doesn't allow full functionality for continental competitions, so it wouldn't be as accurate as the official version with coefficients and whatnot, but it would definitely be possible. People have already made older versions of European competitions in the editor for FM22, so they'll surely do the same for FM23 too.

I'm thinking more of in lines being now licensed competitions, they can't be removed or changed in the editor.

[obasa_G]

7 minutes ago, grade said:

I'm thinking more of in lines being now licensed competitions, they can't be removed or changed in the editor.

Bundesliga was licensed in FM22 and it could still be edited/removed. The european competitions won't be any different.

[rusty217]

7 hours ago, grade said:

I'm thinking more of in lines being now licensed competitions, they can't be removed or changed in the editor.

Being licenced has never stopped anything being changed in the editor before, why would this be any different?

[Nessaja Wolf]

Quote

Looking to the future, extensive work has been done to reflect the format changes that are coming to the UEFA Club Competitions from the 2024/2025 season. Cup Draws will change to reflect this, while your news items at this time will give you more context of how the new league-style format will work and the coefficients of your opponents.

https://www.footballmanager.com/features/uefa-club-competitions-licence

[grade]

8 hours ago, rusty217 said:

Being licenced has never stopped anything being changed in the editor before, why would this be any different?

Don’t know,I thought being UEFA rules would change.

[samrnpage]

On 01/10/2022 at 05:38, Nessaja Wolf said:

https://www.footballmanager.com/features/uefa-club-competitions-licence

Ah perfect

So it looks like the new Champions league format will be in the new game, I think this will be marmite for a lot of people

I wonder  how people feel about this? 

For me I like realism, and I need a save that is reflective of the real world, so I will have to get FM23 to get the new Champions league format

[rusty217]

13 minutes ago, samrnpage said:

Ah perfect

So it looks like the new Champions league format will be in the new game, I think this will be marmite for a lot of people

I wonder  how people feel about this? 

For me I like realism, and I need a save that is reflective of the real world, so I will have to get FM23 to get the new Champions league format

Indeed "Looking to the future, extensive work has been done to reflect the format changes that are coming to the UEFA Club Competitions from the 2024/25 season." had to scroll down quite a bit for the most important part though!

Good to know though, won't need to refund the game now then.

[KillYourIdols]

I like the sound of the new format. The "Round Robin" format is the default for so many competitions, its a nice change for once

[Junkhead]

21 minutes ago, KillYourIdols said:

I like the sound of the new format. The "Round Robin" format is the default for so many competitions, its a nice change for once

Without getting too off topic, I have zero doubt that the new 36 team system where you play only 8 other teams will ultimately serve to benefit teams like Barca and Juventus at the expense of smaller teams from less fancied nations.

The more of the "big" clubs that go deep in the competition, the more money UEFA and their sponsors make.

Will make the "group stages" pointless when a team like Omonia is four games in and has lost to Barca, Juve, Real Madrid and City with Bayern, Liverpool, Dortmund and Athletico left to play.  

And if it isn't seeded this was initially, it will be eventually.

[KillYourIdols]

12 minutes ago, Junkhead said:

Without getting too off topic, I have zero doubt that the new 36 team system where you play only 8 other teams will ultimately serve to benefit teams like Barca and Juventus at the expense of smaller teams from less fancied nations.

The more of the "big" clubs that go deep in the competition, the more money UEFA and their sponsors make.

Will make the "group stages" pointless when a team like Omonia is four games in and has lost to Barca, Juve, Real Madrid and City with Bayern, Liverpool, Dortmund and Athletico left to play.  

And if it isn't seeded this was initially, it will be eventually.

On the flip side, 9th to 24th go into a 2 legged playoff after 8 games, with the winners advancing. Omonia, who may well finish 24th and normally fall into the the Europa League unseeded, would now still have a chance to be European Champions.

Edited October 14, 2022 by KillYourIdols

[Junkhead]

4 minutes ago, KillYourIdols said:

On the flip side, 9th to 24th go into a 2 legged playoff after 8 games, with the winners advancing. Omonia, who may well finish 24th and normally fall into the the Europa League unseeded, would now still have a chance to be European Champions.

If Omonia don't come in the bottom 12 with that fixture list, then all power to them 

If it was really about fairness and competition and trying to give teams from smaller nations a fighting chance, then the original European Cup format would never have been changed. But again, I don't want to derail the thread.

I am glad from a realism perspective that the change will be in the game.

[rusty217]

19 minutes ago, Junkhead said:

Without getting too off topic, I have zero doubt that the new 36 team system where you play only 8 other teams will ultimately serve to benefit teams like Barca and Juventus at the expense of smaller teams from less fancied nations.

The more of the "big" clubs that go deep in the competition, the more money UEFA and their sponsors make.

Will make the "group stages" pointless when a team like Omonia is four games in and has lost to Barca, Juve, Real Madrid and City with Bayern, Liverpool, Dortmund and Athletico left to play.  

And if it isn't seeded this was initially, it will be eventually.

I don't think there's any chance it will ever be seeded like that. One of the major reasons they're changing to this format is so there can be more matches between the big teams early on, those are the real money makers. If it's seeded so all the biggest teams just play all the smallest teams then that'll just fail and they won't make the money they want.

It'll be seeded so they face a mix of teams throughout. That'll mean big teams play each other and small teams play each other as well as some crossover.

[samrnpage]

1 hour ago, Junkhead said:

Without getting too off topic, I have zero doubt that the new 36 team system where you play only 8 other teams will ultimately serve to benefit teams like Barca and Juventus at the expense of smaller teams from less fancied nations.

The more of the "big" clubs that go deep in the competition, the more money UEFA and their sponsors make.

Will make the "group stages" pointless when a team like Omonia is four games in and has lost to Barca, Juve, Real Madrid and City with Bayern, Liverpool, Dortmund and Athletico left to play.  

And if it isn't seeded this was initially, it will be eventually.

From what I believe this wont be the case.

I believe you play two teams from each "tier" of coefficient. Which I believe there is 5 tiers like quintiles of the coefficients, top 20%, next 20% etc etc

For example, Real Madrid will play 2 other teams from their level of coefficient, i.e, two from tier 2, two from tier 3, two from tier 4, two from tier 5 = Total 10 games. 

For example in Real Madrid's group fixtures might be (based off current top 100 coefficients):
Tier 1: Man City + Bayern Munich 
Tier 2: Arsenal + Napoli
Tier 3: PSV + AC Milan 
Tier 4: Real Sociedad + Partizan
Tier 5: Standard Liege + CSKA Moscow 

None of those games I would say is "easy" and some great clashes potentially.

The idea behind this is of course the big teams get at least 4 "big games" vs top European teams out of the 10 games, for that sweet revenue and then the rest of the games are vs "Easy" opposition so easier for them to qualify. Under the current group stage format, the top teams might get drawn with 3 big teams but it also means they might not progress through as each game it tough. This way they are guaranteed at least 2 home games vs a big European side. Easier to qualify for the next rounds etc etc.

The flip side "smaller" teams get to play 4 big teams and 5 home games vs 3 currently with potential for another playoff game, with at least 2 of those 5 games being vs a Tier 1 or 2 club, this means they get double the gate receipts, more revenue, TV Revenue as well and a chance of a playoff game as well to increase the money and potential to get into the latter stages of the competition, where I believe the money is about to seriously go up another level. They also get a chance vs teams at their own level to get points on the board. 

For UEFA, more matches vs big teams and more matches in general = more games to sell to BT/Sky/Amazon/DAZN etc = more prize money and advertisement revenue potential

I for one, at first didnt like the idea, but now I am warming up to it. 
 

[rusty217]

20 minutes ago, samrnpage said:

From what I believe this wont be the case.

I believe you play two teams from each "tier" of coefficient. Which I believe there is 5 tiers like quintiles of the coefficients, top 20%, next 20% etc etc

For example, Real Madrid will play 2 other teams from their level of coefficient, i.e, two from tier 2, two from tier 3, two from tier 4, two from tier 5 = Total 10 games. 

It was actually reduced to 8 matches, so it'll probably go in 25% intervals instead.

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/0275-151c7de63579-30bebad8e85d-1000--uefa-approves-final-format-and-access-list-for-its-club-competi/

Edited October 14, 2022 by rusty217

[Junkhead]

Thank you for the confirmation here guys, was letting my low opinion of UEFA drive my logic without actually looking into it.  Is the new format in FM22?

[rusty217]

43 minutes ago, Junkhead said:

Thank you for the confirmation here guys, was letting my low opinion of UEFA drive my logic without actually looking into it.  Is the new format in FM22?

Nope, it's not in FM22 unfortunately.

[ButchertheBaker]

For what's it's worth, SI confirmed that the new format will be in the new game.

"Looking to the future, extensive work has been done to reflect the format changes that are coming to the UEFA Club Competitions from the 2024/25 season. Cup Draws will change to reflect this, while your news items at this time will give you more context of how the new league-style format will work and the coefficients of your opponents."

This is from one of the blog posts talking about the UEFA license.

https://www.footballmanager.com/features/uefa-club-competitions-licence

[gggfunk]

18 minutes ago, ButchertheBaker said:

For what's it's worth, SI confirmed that the new format will be in the new game.

"Looking to the future, extensive work has been done to reflect the format changes that are coming to the UEFA Club Competitions from the 2024/25 season. Cup Draws will change to reflect this, while your news items at this time will give you more context of how the new league-style format will work and the coefficients of your opponents."

This is from one of the blog posts talking about the UEFA license.

https://www.footballmanager.com/features/uefa-club-competitions-licence

That's really great news, I somehow missed it when reading that post. It will be interesting to play the new system before it starts in real life, thanks to this we'll all be more familiar with it when the 2024/25 season finally hits.

Edited October 14, 2022 by gggfunk

[priority76]

Does anyone know is the Europa/Conference leagues adopting this system as well or staying as is?

[StewG]

4 hours ago, priority76 said:

Does anyone know is the Europa/Conference leagues adopting this system as well or staying as is?

They are yes.