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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

I managed Celtic in Champions League - new format is rubbish

Gordon Strachan has revealed he is not a fan of the revamped league phase of the Champions League.

UEFA altered the competition this year with a new league table with clubs playing eight different opponents instead of the traditional four-team group stage with a home and away match against each team.

Strachan managed Celtic in the group stage of the Champions League previously and was a big backer of the home and away aspect to each opponent in the group.

And he reckons the tournament has "no edge" under the revamped rules as he stated the changes have just made the competition a less extreme version of the Super League proposals.

Speaking to Gambling Zone, Strachan said: "I think the format of the Champions League has been put together to keep the top clubs happy.

"It's basically what they were trying to do a couple of years ago, with the break away and super leagues. It’s a format designed to keep the old established clubs happy.

"I've got to say, there's no edge. There's definitely no edge to it when you've not got away against AC Milan after playing them at home and all that.

"If you said to the Celtic fans, who are you playing in the next match? No idea. Couldn't tell you. But I've got to say, has anybody found this interesting at all? This has been change for the sake of change."


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While Strachan is not impressed by the league phase system, the experienced manager is pleased to see Celtic finding success as he admitted the new style has helped his former club.

Celtic have beaten Slovan Bratislava and RB Leipzig in the competition with draws against Brugge and Atalanta. They lost heavily to Borussia Dortmund.

"I think the new format has helped them," said Strachan. "There's no doubt about it. I think Celtic have produced some great performances though. Like I said, they won at home. At Atlanta, away from home, getting a draw was terrific. So the new format has definitely helped them, but they've also helped themselves.

"It's just dragged on a wee bit. There's a lack of excitement there. And they've got a good chance of making it into the play-offs. They've definitely got a good chance on Tuesday against Zagreb. Zagreb took a real hit against Dortmund in their last game.

"I think Celtic will qualify for the play-offs. They've had a good week in the league playing different types of football, in different conditions, as we've seen. They’ve done well in Europe this season."

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