Real Madrid is struggling in the Champions League. A format they hate can save them

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Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the opening phase of the Champions League soccer match between Liverpool and Real Madrid at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Real Madrid lost to Liverpool on Wednesday and in a previous era it could have been that way. Three Champions League defeats in five attempts used to be crippling. Losses to Lille and AC Milan would threaten any European campaign. The third, 2-0 at Anfield, could have ended it.

However, Real Madrid are very much alive in the 2024-2025 competition precisely because of the new Champions League format, which their president hates.

“[The] the new model will have more games and less interest. It’s an absurd competition,” Florentino Perez said last November.

It is now the only reason why his club are still title contenders.

Los Blancos struck again on Wednesday, on a blustery evening in the north west of England. At the start of the second half, they caved under Liverpool’s pressure. Their only shot on target was their best chance to equalize – a penalty which Kylian Mbappé failed to convert.

Their clear excuse is injuries. They have been weakened by a growing absentee list that now includes Aurélien Tchouaméni, Rodrygo, three key defenders and Vinícius Júnior. But the stars that remain are faint. Mbappé was terrible on Wednesday. In the early days of the game, the entire team looked disjointed, disinterested, or both.

And the results were grim. They needed late goals to beat Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund. They fell in France, then at home to struggling AC Milan.

For decades, such a start to the Champions League would have balanced their progress to the knockout stages. The old format – 32 teams, eight groups of four, the top two from each group advancing – was relatively ruthless. It provided some leeway, and as inequality within European football deepened, the giants rarely fell. But as they repeatedly floundered, they were lost.

However, in response to pressure from super clubs such as Real Madrid, UEFA expanded and redesigned the format. Now there is a “league phase” from which 24 (out of 36) teams will advance. Through five rounds, with three remaining, Real sit on the 24 bubble with six points in 24th place.

In other words, galacticos, the preseason favorites were below par; but as things stand, they would still advance to the first knockout round. They would still be favored, regardless of their opponent, to win and advance to the Round of 16, as they have done for 27 consecutive seasons.

And their savior would be the new Champions League structure, which Perez thinks is “absurd”.

He says this because he is a major supporter of the European Super League. He was the architect of the project that failed in 2021. He was the most powerful force behind the attempts to revive the Super League last December. “The Super League is needed more than ever,” he said.

So he hated the compromise, the new UEFA Champions League format, which pitted more giants against giants in the league phase but weakened the competition. He repeated his criticism last Sunday.

“It turned out that the new format of the Champions League is not the solution as we predicted,” Perez said in a lengthy speech at Real Madrid’s annual general meeting. “It increased the number of matches but decreased the value of each match.” The competition will arouse the passion of the fans only at the end and not at the beginning, as expected.”

And then, three days later, his floundering team lost the fans’ passions again.

Real Madrid were so bad that suddenly their league games started to make sense.

Next up is a trip to Atalanta on Matchday 6 (December 10). Defeat there, in Bergamo, Italy, would leave Los Blancos on the outside looking at the knockouts.

But even so, wins in their last two games – against Salzburg and Brest and – would almost certainly be enough.

Perez is right in many ways – the new format has devalued those early games by making the losses relatively insignificant.

And in the most ironic of twists, it is his club, the defending champions, the kings of Europe, Real Madrid, who are likely to benefit.

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