who's even going to watch this?
I think it's fair for smaller nations who fail to qualify for even the EL. But in the end it's a ploy to milk those TV markets, too.
What I'd actually really like is a reformed Club WC. I don't know how you could implement it into the schedule of all continents with more teams added, but I would love to see South American, North American, African and Asian teams compete with European clubs in a serious competition.
Would love to see how say Atlanta or Gallardo's River Plate would fare against European teams, and to see some famed names like Boca Juniors, Sao Paolo or Flamengo in an intl. tournament.
Problem is for the big guns from over here they are not good enough, so it would be just another trophy thrown at the usual suspects. Without those, the tournament isn't atttractive enough for today's market and viewership. When do you play these games? Maybe playoffs very early in the season, then throw it in whenever there's time.
Could be something like this:
The 5 CL winners plus last years Club WC winner/finalist/3rd
Champions + Cup winners out of:
4 Concacaf nations - 8 teams
4 Conmebol nations - the four countries that have won the Copa Libertadores most, in a tie it's the more recent win that counts. So it would be
Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia - 8 teams
4 CAF nations - same as with Conmebol - Egypt, Morocco, DR Congo, Cameroon - 8 teams
4 AFC nations - same with the others - Japan, South Korea, China, Australia - 8 teams
4 UEFA nations - the first 4 going by the 5 year efficient - 8 teams
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I'd send these into association playoffs with only the 5 CL winners set to filter out 2 teams for each association, two groups of 4 each,
no second legs, games in neutral stadions. That means 3 games per team for the playoffs. That's then 16 teams straight into a completely by chance K.O. phase. That would be 4 to 7 games max for any team played in neutral stadiums around the world.
Last season could have been something with the likes of
Real Madrid
Urawa Red Diamonds
Wydad Casablanca
Guadalajara
Gremio Porto Alegre
Pachuca
Corinthians
Nacional Medellin
Juventus
Barcelona
Toronto
Tigres
Melbourne
Could be a very interesting tournament and a neat way to bring football together globally, bringing back as of now fringe countries back into the club fold in a way and even out markets a bit - and it could be great for fans. Sure, the European heavy hitters would be favourites every season, but I think some US or South American teams could hurt them on special nights.
It could be a very multi facetted tournament with a special feeling, kind of honoring and celebrating club football and football culture from different continents, giving bynow fringe clubs the opportunity to get some publicity and their fans a game against either one of the world's biggest clubs or a club from the other end of the world.
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