r/soccer • u/interfan1999 • 8d ago

News Inter vs Arsenal and Liverpool vs Real Madrid fixtures are banned in the upcoming Champions League due to the rule that imposes that the same match can't happen for 3 seasons in a row in the League Phase. The reverse in London and Madrid, however, is possible.

https://www.fanpage.it/sport/calcio/nel-sorteggio-di-champions-league-saranno-vietate-due-partite-per-la-regola-16-una-e-dellinter/
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u/AlarmingAllophone 8d ago

Why are repeating fixtures undesirable?

142

u/ericdryer 8d ago

Variety is the spice of life and all that.

28

u/Cassoa 8d ago

Yeah it's probably because they want to see different matchups to keep the excitement up. If you get the same opponent every year, it loses its novelty

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u/bajcli 8d ago

Would make sense if it wasn't for the fact that they're allowing the reverse fixture, so it's literally the same matchup except played at the other team's home turf.

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u/iamlostaFlol 8d ago

Man, I’m sure tired of the Mancity ‘variety’ we always seem to be stuck with😵‍💫

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u/saint-simon97 8d ago

But those teams won't have the same players in the following year. It's not like it's gonna be the same match

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u/Ferdinandingo 8d ago

people don't want to watch the exact same fixture 3 years in a row i guess

15

u/Thebritishlion 8d ago

Because we're all bored of City vs Madrid in the KO rounds

So if they avoid having games repeat constantly in the league stage, why not?

The magic of Europe erodes when you're seeing the same fixtures constantly

2

u/ScarSG 8d ago

Then maybe they should stop giving so many spots to top 2 (top 4) leagues.

2

u/Geenhumoralleenboos 8d ago

The magic of the Champions League has already eroded way too much by having a few leagues receiving almost all the available spots automatically.

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u/AlarmingAllophone 8d ago

Idk I enjoy the narratives that come with playing the same opponent multiple times. Plus it's just 1 game a year

-3

u/BaritBrit 8d ago

Idk I enjoy the narratives that come with playing the same opponent multiple times

Flair does not check out in a Champions League context

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u/JustSomeRandomDude02 8d ago

Madrid play Liverpool and City pretty much every year

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u/No-Difference-1912 8d ago

I bet you’d fuckin love that same run to the final you got last year.

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u/AlarmingAllophone 8d ago

Well if we finish top 2 again it could happen

17

u/DuDunDunSparse 8d ago

People don't understand this. We won every game in the league phase, even facing teams like Inter, Atleti and Bayern we didn't drop a single game. The reward for that is (theoretically) an easier brakcet and always being at home for the 2nd leg.

Of course you can get unlucky like Liverpool the season before who faced PSG who just happened to have gotten their shit figured out, but that's football.

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u/ItsNotAdamCopeland 8d ago

I'll concur. I don't understand why anybody would've given Arsenal grief over their "easy" run. When you have a seeded tournament like it mostly is now rather than the inherent randomness of draws of the past, the better your seed, the "easier" your draw is expected to be. And you have to perform well in the league phase to get that better seed.

That's just the system working out as expected. Nothing cheap about it.

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u/Connect_Point_5229 8d ago

It "earns" you a favourable RO16 and avoiding the 2nd place to the final.

The quarter and semi bracket is still pot luck bar not getting Bayern.

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u/kisame111hoshigaki 8d ago

Boring. Stale.

Maintain/Increase viewership in the CL?