Premier League clubs including Liverpool are today discussing the possible impact of drastic changes to the Champions League .
The clubs will assemble at a shareholders meeting to debate the pros and cons of a dramatic increase in the amount of group matches of Europe's premier competition.
Liverpool had to contend with just six group matches this season before making it through to the knockout stages.
However, Juventus are one of the key clubs aiming to completely change the group stages of the Champions League . Chairman Andrea Agnelli is also an Executive Member of the European Football Association.
The radical plans include altering the opening stages from eight groups of four teams to four groups of eight teams. This would mean 14 group matches for sides before the top four from each go on to the last 16.
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It’s also said that the domestic top-four qualification process for the Champions League could be abandoned in favour of something more of a closed shop which would serve the most historically successful clubs across Europe.
It would be bad news for clubs who harbour ambitions of breaking into the top four of the Premier League, long term. Their potential route to the Champions League could be somewhat blocked, leaving sides like Liverpool favoured year in year out.
All of these issues will be on the table to discuss at Friday's shareholders meeting.
The proposed start date for the expanded competition is the 2024/25 season and it’s believed Premier League clubs have serious reservations about how the extra fixtures would be worked into the football calendar.
It’s understood that one of the domestic cup competitions could be under threat as a result.
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