Champions League Draw System Needs to Be Changed

Friday's Champions League draw threw up a plethora of great matches including local rivalries, a matchup between two countries' best teams, and rematches of two previous finals. However, the purely random draw system, as it is, needs to be chopped and changed if we want to see a perfect competition.

Having a completely random system results in teams slacking off in their domestic leagues and often sees world-class sides knocked out whilst inferior ones progress. This recent past 16 involved Chelsea versus Inter.

The significance of this tie in terms of the return of Jose Mourinho, the power struggle between Italy and England, and a matchup of Europe's meanest defences would constitute an article in itself and did indeed prove to be an intriguing tie.

However, the fact that these two teams met in the round of 16 is ludicrous. It meant that one of the favourites for the competition would go out at the second hurdle and, as much as it pains me to say it, the competition just isn't the same without Chelsea—nor would it have been without Inter.

The same goes for Lyon and Real Madrid, two of the most historically successful teams in France and Spain, with one of them having to leave the competition.

Meanwhile, Bordeaux played Olimpiacos and Sevilla played CSKA. Don't get me wrong, these are all very good teams, but in all honesty who really cares if they go through?

Even the staunchest supporter of any of these teams would admit that for a neutral observer the competition is far more glamorous if the likes of Chelsea, Inter, Madrid, and Lyon were all still in it. Even AC Milan, despite their crumpling powerhouse status, is surely a more impressive name to have in the competition than CSKA.

The same goes for the quarterfinal draw. Arsenal and Barcelona are the two best teams in the competition in terms of their aesthetic play, and a final between the two would surely have to be watched in slow-motion. However, thanks to the outdated draw system they will have to play against one another and, sadly, one of them will have to go out.

Meanwhile, Bordeaux are playing Lyon. I really like these two sides and the likes of Gourcuff, Lopez, Lloris, and Chamakh are truly talents to behold. However, surely no one will be tuning into that match other than the fans of those teams—and even then they may have to think twice before foregoing the chance to see Bayern vs. Man United, another tie in which an historically great side will have to depart.

In the past this system worked fine. Until the last decade or so, only the top teams from each UEFA country participated in the Champions League. Also, most leagues boasted at least one good team, with the likes of Dynamo Kiev and Marseille considered to be on a par with just about anyone.

However, the money-driven emergence of an English-Spanish-Italian triopoly has meant that there are very few teams, if any, from outside these three countries that would make Manchester United quiver at the thought of playing them.

Therefore, the draw is more than likely to throw up useless matchups between two no-hopers (such as Villarreal vs. Panathanikos last season) as well as premature finals (such as Man United vs. Inter at the same stage).

I was an avid football fan from 2002-2005, and then again from 2007-now. In between, I got really into basketball. I believe that their system is correct. For those that are unaware, they play a regular league season before the playoffs begin. Eight teams from each conference play one another in the playoffs, but the draw is not random.

The No. 1 plays the No. 8 team, the No. 2 the No. 7, the No. 3 the No. 6, and the No. 4 the No. 5. This means that in all likelihood only the best teams contest the latter stages, meaning great matches are where they belong: at the end of the competition. However, the system also allows for some fantastic upsets and some genuinely tight matches, unlike Arsenal vs. Porto or Barcelona vs. Stuttgart!

I believe that the Champions League draw should be done the same, whereby there is a seeding system in which teams are ranked based on domestic performance, previous CL results, goals scored, and other technical variables.

Not only would this result in more intriguing and glamorous affairs, but it would also give teams an incentive to try their best in all their matches, even if they are running away with their own league or have already qualified for the next round, in the knowledge that it could improve their rankings.

Had this been done this season, the last 16 draw would probably have been: Barca-Olympiacos, Man United-Stuttgard, Chelsea-CSKA, Madrid-Porto, Arsenal-Sevilla, Inter-Bordeaux, Bayern-Fiorentina, and AC Milan-Lyon. Upsets would be inevitable whilst most of the big names would go through to the business end of the competition.

If the same is done up to the semi-finals then we would be sure that the four semi-finalists are genuinely the four best teams in the competition. This is not the case in the current CL, where CSKA are in where Chelsea are out, Bordeaux are in where Madrid are out, and there will be a French team in a semi-final that will not contain either Barcelona and Arsenal.

The Champions League is Europe's premier club competition, as it should be. However, at this rate we will never truly see all the big guns scrapping it out against each other, and surely that is the whole reason the Champions League exists. A revamp is needed.