“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is an adage we often hear in the world of football. There are plenty of things that could be improved about the beautiful game, and we all know that there are enough fans, especially on social media, who are willing to throw their opinion into the mix. Some believe that the owners of Europe’s elite seem ever-determined to push Europe’s biggest clubs toward a dystopian, grotesque version that combines a domestic league format with international footballing giants.

The polarizing, sudden changes to this year’s Champions League format have done little to quell the rumours that the sport will eventually be heading into European Super League territory. Admittedly, and in their defence, UEFA was firmly against this, likely because they’d be missing out financially, but these changes do have a familiar feel to them.

Such significant change to the Champions League format is bound to bring this conversation back into focus. While it was met with vociferous putdowns and a tsunami of unanimous, vehement bile on social media, the bottom line is that money talks.

Ultimately, this is a moot point for now, given that they’ve gone ahead with the Champions League changes. For the bookies, it hasn’t changed their approach to who they think will lift the trophy – Man City and Real Madrid are the two favourites, just as they have been over the last two seasons. The bookies have opened up more ways for people to access betting markets, from watching live games in a betting app to betting with PayPal. PayPal has quickly become one of the most recognised payment platforms due to its reliability and security. Most trusted sports betting platforms will offer PayPal as a payment method, making it easier for bettors to track and monitor all transactions. If you’re hoping to get involved this season, PayPal is a highly recommended platform for your betting needs.

So, will these format changes help the Hoops fare better than they have in Europe in recent years?

New format explained

The Champions League has undergone several format changes and design ideas over the last 40 years, while the previous format has been in place since 1999. Some minor changes occurred then, such as abolishing the away goals rule and qualification for the Europa League qualification playoff games for those teams that had been knocked out in the group stages.

The most fundamental change in the new format is the initial league format, which includes all qualified 36 teams. They’ll all play eight rather than the six guarantee games we’re used to in the previous setup. The top eight teams progress automatically to the knockout stages, then the teams that finish between ninth and 24th will go into the playoff stages, where they face off in a two-leg game to see who progresses to the last 16. Those teams that finish lower than 24th will be eliminated from this year’s competition.

Will Celtic benefit from this fresh format?

It’s hard to say with any degree of certainty whether the fresh format will benefit Celtic. From a fixture perspective, it means a guarantee of two more games against top-level European competition, but their recent defeat against Dortmund won’t exactly help to bolster the belief that extra games against the cream of Europe are a good thing.

Several players, most notably Rodri and Andy Robertson, have voiced concerns about how players are being treated in the modern age. Whether or not the Man City talisman and the number of games he’s played were the main catalysts behind his season-ending ACL injury remains to be seen.

Although an extra two games will hardly put the greatest strain on the Celts, you’d think there’s some level of indifference to this new format. While there might be two extra games, and the league of 36 is something new to get used to, the game and the intent remain the same – to qualify for the knockout stages.

Celtic haven’t reached the last 16 since 2012, and while it’s hard to see how this format makes it any easier to accomplish this goal, many ex-professionals have talked about how it is better for the game. As ever with these seismic changes, it’s still early days, and it won’t be until Celtic have participated in at least half a dozen games that we will be able to weigh it up against previous performances to see if it has benefitted them.

Negatives to consider

Some football journalists and experts within the industry have stated that the new format risks diluting the quality of big matchups. The new format also increases the likelihood that some of the European giants will have to face off against each other much earlier than usual, whereas the seeded group stage format actively kept the top teams away from each other until the last 16, at minimum.

While Real Madrid or Manchester City might oppose this idea, it seems like it may be a net positive, especially for the teams lower down in the pecking order, like the Celts, who don’t have the financial firepower that some of the clubs do.

When the new format was announced a couple of months ago, the obvious criticism was that it mirrored the European Super League, which UEFA was so vehemently against. Sure, the Champions League takes on a familiar format once it reaches the knockout stage, but the current league table and the potential for any of the qualifying teams to face off against each other does have a Super League feel to it.

Conclusion

Most Celtic fans believe that the new format is a net benefit. No longer will there be reverse fixtures, and the statistical chance of playing one of the bigger European clubs is heightened. You only need to take a look at who the Celts have drawn – Aston Villa, Dortmund, Atalanta – some of the most in-form teams in Europe.

While we probably wouldn’t fancy their chances against any of them away from home, it gives Celtic fans more grounds to visit, more Champions League nights and more experience against some of the best competition on the continent.

Even if they do come up short and fail to qualify for the knockout stages, it’s certainly a format that has legs. Once we see how it pans out in its inaugural season and whether UEFA decides to make any slight changes to the format for next year, we’ll be able to paint a much clearer picture of how it will look for Celtic and whether it may be beneficial in the long term.