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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Mark Wakefield

Liverpool could be affected by major Champions League semi-final change

UEFA could bring in major changes to the Champions League that could affect Liverpool in the near future.

The Reds are currently competing in the semi-final of this year’s competition, taking on Villarreal. The first leg is being staged at Anfield this week, before the return leg at the Estadio de la Ceramica next week.

However, according to a report in The Times , UEFA could introduce changes to the competition where this would no longer happen. The report states that plans are being drawn up for the consideration of scrapping two-legged semi-finals.

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It has already been confirmed that the Champions League will be reformed from the 2024/25 season. These changes will see the competition expand to 36 teams, where every club is included in one table and will play five teams, home and away.

This new report has claimed that UEFA are looking at the idea of a “week of football”. These plans would see the semi-final reformatted to just a single tie, with both matches and the final played over one weekend in the same city.

It has been claimed that UEFA have not yet signed off on the new plans as things stand, although the European Clubs Association (ECA) is apparently getting ready to support the idea. Any changes would also need approval from the European Leagues organisation.

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