Three major changes have occurred in the Champions League rules, Barcelona may avoid being eliminated, domestic fans do not have to stay up late

Soon, the Champions League will start the league stage, and many strong dialogues have attracted much attention. Among them, there will be many strong dialogues in the first round, including four matches between the Premier League and La Liga. This season, the Champions League has made changes to the rules again, and there are three changes worth noting.

Last season, the rules of the Champions League changed a lot, and seemed to have changed a little bit. The establishment of the league stage made the game more exciting. Paris Saint-Germain, who finally won the championship, and the Champions League overlord Real Madrid, also had to fight to the last round. Liverpool, who had only seven consecutive victories, could "get off work" early, but was eliminated in the round of 16. The increase in uncertainty can still satisfy many fans.

This season, the Champions League basically followed last year's rules. The changes were not too big, but minor modifications were made. There are three rules that can be paid attention to. First, the Champions League final is scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 30 next year at the Puskas Stadium in Budapest, Hungary. This stadium hosts the Champions League final for the first time, and the UEFA Cup final two years ago was also held here. Sevilla defeated Roma led by Mourinho with a penalty kick and won the championship.

When talking about Puskas, you can talk a little more. This is a Hungarian striker who once played for Real Madrid. When Real Madrid won five consecutive Champions League titles, he participated in the last two times. There was another one a few years later. He won the Champions League trophy three times for Real Madrid and won the best scorer in La Liga 4 times. At the national team level, Puskas led Hungary to defeat England, becoming the first team to win in England in 90 years, and then won the runner-up in the World Cup. Therefore, the Champions League final was held at this stadium, which is of great significance.

, and the Puskas Award established by FIFA represents the best goal of the year worldwide. Last year's winner was Manchester United's Garnacho, who praised him for his wonderful barb score in the face of Everton. The remaining winners include the first winner Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as familiar players such as Neymar, Ibrahimovic, Salah, Son Heung-min. Although Messi scored countless goals and was nominated for at least seven times, he has never been able to win the award.

What has changed is that the start time of the Champions League final will be held three hours in advance, and will be changed to 6:00 pm Central European Time, which is to start at 0:00 am the next day. This means that domestic fans don’t have to stay up late or wait until late at night. I believe that it can attract more fans to watch the live broadcast.

The second change is that after the Champions League starts, only two draws are needed. Once before the top 16 playoffs, the playoffs are determined. Another time before the top 16, not only can the top 16 matches be determined, but the top 8 and top 4 matches will also occur. What has changed is that neither of these two draws required home and away games. As for why, there will be a detailed explanation below. The third change is that according to the UEFA Champions League rules, the description of the home and away order of the quarterfinals and the semifinals has been added. In the round of 16 playoffs and round of 16, the top teams in the league stage are away first and then home, and this regulation is the same as last season. However, in the quarterfinals, the teams ranked in the top four in the league have the advantage of being away first and then home. In the quarterfinals, the teams ranked in the top two also have the advantage of being away first and then home. At the same time, if these teams are eliminated early, the team that defeats them can "inherit" this advantage.

It sounds like this rule is a bit difficult to understand, but in fact it will be easy to understand if it is said in another way. The following figure is an example. In the quarterfinals stage, the small divisions of the top four teams in the league will be played away first and return to home in the second round. In the quarterfinals stage, the small divisions of the top two teams in the league will also be away first and then home. In other words, you can now know the home and away order of all matches in the knockout stage, so you don’t have to decide by drawing lots.

In other words, it can be clearly seen from the match chart that the first or second place team belongs to the league stage and always has the advantage of being away first and then home. If the teams in the fifth or sixth place enter the quarterfinals or semi-finals, they will all be home first and then away. The 21st and 22nd place are the worst. Starting from the playoffs, if they advance to the semi-finals, they will all be home first and then away.

For example, although Arsenal and Barcelona ranked high in the league last season, the order of home and away games was determined by drawing lots, and the semi-finals were both home and home first and then away. As a result, Arsenal lost to Paris in both rounds and was eliminated, so Barcelona became even more "worry". The total score in the two rounds was a draw, and they could only play overtime in Inter Milan away and were eventually eliminated.

If the new rules of the season are replaced, Paris Saint-Germain "inherited" the advantage of No. 1 seed from Liverpool, and the same order will be maintained against Arsenal in the semi-finals. However, Barcelona is different. Facing Inter Milan, they are away and then home. They should play overtime at home in the second round. Perhaps in this case, Barcelona may not be eliminated. These two examples vividly explain the reason why the home and away order does not require draws in lots, and also explain what the "inheritance" rule means.

The new season, the rules of the Champions League have three fine adjustments worth noting. The final time is very friendly in advance. If the time is also modified in the previous stages, it would be even better. I hope it can be changed in the next few seasons. The order of home and away games increases the advantage of league rankings, which is also very reasonable. I believe many fans hope to add a modification, that is, since the draws are all "choose one of two" to determine the opponent, it is better to designate the opponent by the higher-ranked team. Then Liverpool would not meet Paris Saint-Germain early last season, and the advantage of high ranking can be further demonstrated.

Are you satisfied with the small changes in the rules of the Champions League?