The Elite Victims in UCL Format Change throughout the history

 

There have always been elite sides that have become the victims of the Champions League changing format throughout history.

UEFA Champions League 2024/25 marks the new era with its renewed format like never before. The use of the league phase and Swiss system to determine the opponents for each team is really something that is never applied in European football. 

Such is not the first change initiated by the European football governing body. In fact, it has been the fifth one in the competition's history. In its first edition with the new format, there have always been the top teams that headed to exit too early.

In the current campaign, one of the favorites, Liverpool, has to end their hope to lift their seventh trophy after losing out to PSG on penalties in their own home turf. The Reds are the fourth top victims this season after the 2023 winner, Manchester City, and two Italian giants, Juventus and AC Milan. 

Here are the elite victims in each UCL season with the new format for the first time.

Marseille and Arsenal (1991/92)

The 1991/92 season was the first time the European Cup underwent a format change. Previously, all teams went straight to the knockout stage to the final, whereas in that campaign the group stage was first introduced. 

However, such was not held as a preliminary round just like what one knows today in almost every major tournament, including UCL from 1995 to 2004. The group stage was in fact contested in the latter stage as a double final four for the last eight teams who had qualified from the first two rounds. 

Each of the four teams was seeded in two groups, and each group leader would progress to the summit after six fixtures with three home and away games against all the other three sides. 

Ironically, the very first victims of this format change were the runner-up, Olympique Marseille, and Arsenal. Both were the favorites and expected to go further in the competition, especially The Gunners, as the final was to be staged in Wembley Stadium. 

OM’s campaign was rather devastating. They easily went through the first round after trashing Union Luxembourg 10-0 on aggregate. Nevertheless, Jean Pierre Papin and Co. were struggling to ease past Sparta Prague. They won 3-2 at home in the first leg but stumbled 2-1 in the reverse fixture. The French giant was eventually eliminated through the away goal rule. 

Meanwhile, the Gunners, who marked the English side's return to the European competitions after a five-year ban following the Heysel tragedy (plus another year for Liverpool, the English Champions in 1990), did not have a long, promising campaign. Ian Wright and Co. did start well as they crushed Austria Vienna 6-2 on aggregate. Yet, they were unable to beat Benfica. George Graham’s side was knocked out in a 4-2 defeat on aggregate after going through an extra time in the second leg. 

Manchester United (1994/95)

Another English champion had to crash out too early when another change was introduced. In 1994/95, the Champions Cup went through several alterations. It was the first season the competition was known as UEFA Champions League, and the last time a win in a game was only worth two points. 

Regarding the format, UEFA saw a slight change after the last one in 1991. Previously, the group stage was held in the final stage prior to the summit. This time it was moved to the preliminary round. All 16 teams were seeded in four groups, with only the first two sides in each able to progress to the knockout stage. 

Manchester United, the 1994 EPL winner, was not expected to end their campaign so early. They were grouped with Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona, Sweden's IFK Gothenburg, and Galatasaray in Group A. Yet, Eric Cantona and Co. only finished third and missed out on the quarterfinals.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men initially started off well as they dismantled the Swedish champion 4-2 but then were held in a goalless and 2-2 draw, respectively, against Galatasaray and Barcelona. Their performance deteriorated in the following two games as the Red Devils were smashed 4-0 in Camp Nou and thumped 3-1 in Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg. Their 4-0 win in the final match over Galatasaray was merely a consolation. 

Arsenal, Dortmund, and AC Milan (1999/2000)

The format was modified again following the expansion of the participants. Since the 1996/97 season, UCL has no longer exclusively belonged to the league winners. Initially, only the runners-up from elite leagues were given the slot to join the competition. It went on for two years, from 1996 to 1998.

In 1999, the European football governing body decided to expand it even further by granting more tickets for the teams in the top leagues based on the UEFA rankings. Consequently, the group stage was added, not just once but twice. The first one, which consisted of eight groups of four, is the preliminary round, while the second one, with four groups of four, functions as the second round. The first two teams from each group in the final standing would advance to the quarterfinals. 

Such apparently led to the increasing number of victims from the elite sides. Arsenal, AC Milan, and the 1997 winners Borussia Dortmund fell out of favor in their campaign as they exited in the first group stage. 

The Gunners and Die Borussen only finished third, whereas Rossonerri sat at the bottom of the table. Thierry Henry and Co. failed to topple Barcelona and Fiorentina. Dortmund were inferior against Feyenoord and Rosenborg while the Italian giants were hapless versus Chelsea, Hertha Berlin and Galatasaray.

Inter Milan (2003/04)

The last edition with a format change prior to the current season was the 2003/04 campaign. UEFA decided to scrap the second group stage despite the criticism from the clubs and introduced the round of 16 in the knockout stage instead to reduce the number of games for the teams to qualify as well as add up more risk of elimination for the big teams if they did not perform well in the group stage. 

Such a format has been utilized ever since for the knockout stage. It does bring results as expected, with one of the star-studded sides, Inter Milan, failing to advance from the group stage and the unlikely final between FC Porto and Monaco. 

Nerrazurri was initially one of the favorites. Under Hector Cuper, who managed to bring Valencia to reach the UCL final twice in 2000 and 2001, they began their campaign perfectly by trashing Arsenal 3-0 in Highbury. Yet, Christian Vieri and Co. could not replicate their impressive display in the remaining matches. They were only able to snatch one narrow win while hosting Dynamo Kiev but failed to secure three points against Lokomotiv Moscow and Arsenal. They even suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat at home versus Arsene Wenger’s side.