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Ceferin says UEFA will consider using single-game knockout format in future

Harold Cunningham - UEFA / UEFA / Getty

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin - a fan of the single-game knockout format in the Champions League this season - is saying he will consider the new setup in the future.

"We were forced to do it, but in the end, we see that we found out something new," Ceferin told Simon Evans of Reuters. "So, we will think about it in the future for sure."

UEFA used the format to quickly complete the Champions League, starting from the quarterfinals, after putting the competition on hold for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ceferin says that UEFA has not ruled out revisiting the matter, adding that the matches were more "exciting" as teams were forced to implement a more attacking style without having a second leg to fall back on.

But he indicated that elimination matches could be a tough sell for broadcasters.

"(There has been) not so much tactics," he said. "If it is one match if one team scores, then the other has to score as soon as possible. If it is a two-legged system, then there is still time to win the next match.

"More exciting matches for sure but of course we also have to think about the fact that we have less matches and broadcasters [can] say: 'you don't have as many matches as before, this is different' so we will have to discuss when this crazy situation ends."

UEFA is on the verge of completing the "final eight" tournament, as Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain get set to meet in the Champions League final on Sunday.

They agreed the tournament would take place without fans and at a single location, Lisbon, to finish the Champions League in 11 days.

Although the current format - with teams playing two legs in the knockout rounds - is set in place until 2024-25 due to a previously agreed contract, the organization expects to examine ways to restructure the competition later this year.

"Look for sure it is a very interesting format," Ceferin said. "Now, I doubt as much as the calendar is now, that we could do a final eight (tournament) because it would take too much time. But, a format with one match and a system like it is now, I think it would be much more exciting than the format that was before.

"If we would play this system then - but we haven’t discussed with anyone, it's just an idea - we would play in one city. If you play in one city, you can have a week of football or something like that. But it is far too early to think about it.

"We have seen it as a big success and the viewership over TV has been huge, maybe it also good because it is August and people are at home, some of them at least, but interesting, interesting tournament."

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