One of the ideas of the Champions League knockout rounds within the previous format was that you simply couldn’t face a team that you simply had already performed within the group stage.
That typically occurred deeper into the match, however the draw was organized so that you didn’t get these repeats immediately. Now, although, repeated video games appear to be a desired characteristic of the brand new construction.
Of the eight round-of-16 ties, three of them have already occurred within the league part: Manchester City vs Real Madrid, Galatasaray vs Liverpool, and… Newcastle United vs Barcelona. And there may be more on the best way.
And all of that is completely a product of the format. There have been as many repeat fixtures in a season and a half of the brand new format as there have been in 32 earlier than that.
Does it matter? Well, selection is a part of the purpose of European soccer. Its enchantment lies in seeing groups that don’t normally play one another play one another.
This, in fact, was predictable. Indeed, it’d even have been half the purpose, to extend the probabilities of the identical, massive, money-spinning fixtures occurring once more.
But these repeat fixtures are making for an unsatisfying match throughout.
