Former Manchester United and Barcelona manager Louis van Gaal has criticised UEFA over its decision to change the Champions League structure.
Year 2024 saw UEFA expand the Champions League from 32 to 36 clubs, and utilizing a single league table where every participant plays eight matches in the initial phase.
Despite its been two years since the change, Van Gaal believes the expansion is motivated by greed rather than footballing excellence.
”It is ridiculous that UEFA is coming up with such a competition setup. Jan Doedel [a Dutch slang term for a fool] is also allowed to participate these days,” Van Gaal told NOS.
”UEFA only thinks about making money,” the former Netherlands boss continued, doubling down on his long-standing opposition to the tournament’s commercial evolution.
Van Gaal wants more high profile in the Champions League group stage. Arsenal and Bayern Munich faced off in the 2025/27 group stage. (Photo by Karl-Josef HILDENBRAND / AFP via Getty Images)
This isn’t a new stance for the man who led Ajax to European glory in 1995; he famously described the competition as a “commercial monstrosity” as far back as 1994.
Instead of the current “Swiss model” league phase, Van Gaal has proposed a system inspired by other international sports to ensure competitive balance.
By grouping clubs of similar quality together, he argues that the intensity of the matches would increase, and the physical toll on the players would be more manageable across the long season.
An Adidas match ball during the UEFA Champions League match. (Photo by Luca Rossini/PA Images via Getty Images)
”Just like in ice hockey. There you have an A-level, a B-level, et cetera,” Van Gaal explained when outlining his vision for a restructured European pyramid. “Of course, there is also an Europa League and a Conference League, but UEFA hides behind that.”
Van Gaal suggests that the current system pretends to be inclusive while actually forcing top-tier athletes to participate in more matches that lack true competitive tension until the later knockout rounds.
”By doing that [tiering], you get matches of a higher level that are more exciting. And fewer injuries. I told UEFA that twenty years ago, but they don’t listen to me,” he lamented.
Beyond the tactical and structural complaints, Van Gaal is deeply concerned about the physical impact the expanded calendar has on modern footballers.
”There are also far too many matches, also because of that new larger group phase in the Champions League. As a result, there are also more injuries,” he added.
