For decades, the Champions League group stages have brought incredible drama, with teams battling across the continent against their rivals for a coveted last 16 spot. Groups of death, such as Group F this year, always live up to the spectacle, with all four teams often in with a chance heading into Matchday Six. But after this year, that will be no more.
The new Swiss Model being introduced to the Champions League next year will remove the group stage format. Instead, 36 teams (up from 32) will compete across eight matchdays in one big table. The top eight will reach the last 16, whilst the sides ranked from 9th to 24th will compete in a play-off round to take on the top eight in the last 16.
It is then, the end of an era. The group stages have been in place since 1991, with the current format in place since the 1997-1998 season.
Olympiacos survived a group with Real Madrid, Lazio and Werder Bremen. Arsenal had to win at the San Siro against Inter and thrashed them 5 - 1. Porto's heroic draw with Real Madrid kick-started their amazing Champions League winning season. These are just three examples of the outstanding spectacle the group stages have provided.
But there is hope for the new format. Admittedly it's not been particularly popular with the European football community, but in the last two years alone, there's been plenty of evidence to suggest the Swiss model is a good thing for everyone in the Champions League.
Academic Matchday Six
As we've said, there are some incredible, nail-biting groups heading into Matchday Six, but there are also those that aren't quite so exciting.
Take Group B for example. Arsenal thrashed Lens 6 - 0 on Wednesday night to wrap up top spot and this, combined with PSV's remarkable come-back-win away to Sevilla, means that the top two are set. Sevilla do have a thin chance of reaching the Europa League but must beat Lens in France to salvage their European season.
In Group G, the final two games are even more academic, with all four sides locked into their final positions. Manchester City have won the group, Leipzig will be second, Young Boys will be relegated to the Europa League and Red Star Belgrade are out of Europe.
With a Swiss model however, teams like Arsenal, City and Leipzig would have everything to play for right up until the final matchday, and wouldn't breeze through quite so easily in the first place.
The New System
The new model will still divide the teams into four pots based on their UEFA coefficient ranking. Unlike the current model though, Pot 1 is no longer the "pot of Champions," with only the Champions League winners going straight into Pot 1. The other eight teams in the top pot will now be the top eight ranked sides by UEFA's coefficient system.
There is a debate to be had as to whether league winners should go into Pot 1, but in reality, with the new model, it won't matter one bit.
Every team in the group stage will play eight games, facing two teams from each pot; one at home and one away. This, for the first time, includes two games against sides in their own pot. Therefore, what pot a team is placed in doesn't really matter to the team themselves; it's just a tool for making sure the fixtures are roughly even.
On top of that, the final position matters within the table. The team who finish top of the Champions League group stage will, in theory, get an easier knockout draw than the side who finishes second and so on.
So as well as it being far more difficult for the likes of City and Arsenal to qualify early, they also won't want to stop pushing having secured a top-eight finish. A higher table position can make a difference not only to their last 16 draw but also to the rest of their match-ups for the entire tournament.
This should solve the problem of any redundant Champions League games, paving the way for more six and seven-goal thrillers, the like of which Manchester United have had almost exclusively in this season's competition.
The Draw
There is another subtle rule change UEFA have thrown in which seems to have gone under the radar.
When drawing the fixtures, to avoid a deadlock (impossible draw scenario), teams from the same country can be drawn against each other once if their country has four or more clubs in the draw. With the current rankings, that could leave Manchester City and Liverpool or Barcelona and Real Madrid being drawn against each other for a group game.
Speaking of the draw, in true UEFA style, it's set to be quite the show. Every one of the 144 group stage matches will be drawn live, with the fixture list filling up as the draw progresses. It may not be quite as good as the games themselves, but it's certainly going to be incredible watching which mouthwatering clashes are set up between Europe's very best.
The lower-ranked sides
Whilst the bigger clubs in Europe may resent a tougher path to the knockout stages, those who often find themselves struggling to score a point (and sometimes a goal) in the group stages will certainly have a better time of it with the Swiss model.
For starters, all of the Pot 4 teams will get two matches against sides from their own pot. Six points from those two games could almost be enough for a spot in the playoff round as it is, and if they could win one more game, nine points almost certainly would.
The other positive for the lower-ranked sides is that it guarantees two home games against huge European sides from the top two pots. It also provides at least two very special away days.
Perhaps even more encouraging though is the fact that there is no longer any drop down to the Europa League.
Sides relegated from the Champions League tend to go one of two ways in the second-tier competition; they either make eleven changes and get eliminated immediately, or they stroll through to the semi-finals without batting an eye-lid. Neither are good for the Europa League, so this is a good move from UEFA.
What's wrong with it?
There are a couple of understandable complaints with changing the format. One of these is the group of death scenario, such as Group F this year. Borussia Dortmund are through, but haven't wrapped up top spot, so all four spots are still undecided. Similarly, Inter face Real Sociedad in a winner-takes-all game at San Siro for top spot in Group D on Matchday Six.
But what needs to be realised is that all of this drama takes place in a group of just four clubs. Imagine how much the table will chop and change each night in a group of 36.
Another complaint could arise from the two extra fixtures, and for those in the playoff round, it could even be four. With fixture demand already high, UEFA have extended the group stage to January, which will make room for the two extra group matches.
The playoff round will take place in line with the Europa League, which has already used it for two years, and the rest of the tournament will continue in the same way it does now.
Finally, the lower-ranked sides may find it far more difficult to reach the last 16. Whilst this may be true, it will actually be a lot easier for them to secure some kind of knockout football, because they only need to rank within the top 24 to get a playoff tie.
In our simulation, seven points and decent goal difference was enough for a playoff spot and seventeen points along with good goal difference was enough for an automatic last 16 spot.
So will it work?
Overall, yes, it will. UEFA did spring it quite suddenly, especially as countries such as England and France who have two domestic cups for the teams in the top league will need to significantly adjust their football calendar.
That being said, these adjustments look set to be completely worth it. The Swiss model removes deadpan Matchday Six games and it achieves a wonderful balance between having more big games in the group stages whilst also giving the bigger sides just as good of a chance to make it through.
Of course it's sad to say goodbye to the current format, with so many breathless groups over the years. But make no mistake, the drama of the group stages isn't going anywhere. It will only become more enticing with the new model.