The midweek Champions League clashes are going to be mouthwateringly feisty. I don’t think anyone would want to miss them, and that sort of poses the question, why don’t we have Champions League games during weekends so that everybody could watch them? Well, I decided to do a bit of research.
The simple answer is that the league overrules priorities of any international competition, and, generally speaking, Champions League would be considered an international commitment since all of Europe’s best participate in it. Otherwise, clubs might have league games during the week and Champs League games during weekends and the fans will have an unsolvable mess with the schedule in their hands.
Think about it.
Since Champions League games are during midweek, the consistency of the scheduling means that fans don’t have to worry when the weekend comes and their respective clubs have a game because, with all due respect to whatever league we are talking about, even the Premier League doesn’t pose as attractive a viewing obstacle as the typical box-office Champions League games.
Arsenal’s French forward Olivier Giroud (L)and Arsenal’s German defender Per Mertesacker celebrate after the UEFA Champions League Group F football match between Olympiacos and Arsenal at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus near Athens on December 9, 2015. Arsenal won the match 0-3. (Photo by LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Secondly, many think that the games are so structured during midweek so that the supporters of the away team are the ones that are genuine super-fans; in other words so that not many away supporters actually show up. This plays right into the hands of the Champions League away goals rule, as they have made the fixture during a Tuesday or Wednesday night so that the away team is really at a disadvantage, and as such, receive twice as much value for every away goal they score.
And last but not least, most there simply isn’t enough space in a calendar year for all, or any, Champions League games to take place during the weekends unless they decide to do it as a post-season thing. That would present a totally different scenario.
