The Arsenal side of Mikel Arteta was beaten from the Champions League by ultimate winners Paris Saint-Germain after being forced to play away in the second stage of their semi-final
UEFA will make a change to Champions League rules after the first season with the new format of the tournament. The European administrative body is preparing to act for the teams for the home advantage for the teams that perform best in the competition phase for the duration of the knockout round after both Arsenal and Barcelona have been denied and met heartbreaking outputs.
The first edition of the extensive 36-team tournament, in which Paris Saint-Germain crowned the champions during the weekend, guaranteed that clubs that ended in the top eight of the competition phase would play the second stage of their round of 16 draw at home. But from that moment the competition used an open draw that was counted the end position on the side in the table in the quarterfinals and the semi -final.
Arsenal and Barcelona finished second and third respectively in the competition phase, but were forced to play away in the second stage against opponents PSG and Inter Milan, who were in 15th and fourth place. The opposite will be guaranteed from next season.
UEFA's Club Competitions Committee agreed to the change in a meeting prior to the final of the Champions League of Saturday. Regulations for 2025/26 have already been published, but changes can be made if they are ratified by the Executive Committee.
It is expected that a virtual meeting will not be held later than the competition drawing, which takes place on 28 August.
Both Arsenal and Barcelona saw their versions early in the competition in the quarter -final phase. Real Madrid was only arranged 11th, but was still able to host the second stage against Arsenal in the Bernabeu.
In the meantime, Barca had to travel to Germany to confirm their progression about Borussia Dortmund. Both parties were successful, but could not replicate it in stricter cases at the last four.
Reports claimed that Mikel Arteta's side expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation in which they were. The club would mean that they felt awarded that their consistency in the competition phase was not rewarded in the knockout phase.
After the exit of Arsenal, Arteta claimed that the Gunners were the best team in the competition. In his press conference after the defeat, the Spaniard said that his team earned more.
“Speaking of merits, I think we earn a lot more. When you analyze both games, which has been the best player, the MVP, is the same player, the keeper.
“And the Champions League is decided in the boxes and it has won the game for them, because of course today after 20 minutes and whatever happened in London, the result should have been very different.
“So I can take a lot of positives and I am very proud of the team. We have to arrive at this stage in the competition with the entire team, fully available, in the best. We don't have that, so let's put that aside.
“Nevertheless, the team I have seen today is probably one of the best, if not the best team in Europe. It gives me so much proud, but at the same time I am so upset, so irritated that we have not been able to do it.”