The Champions League draw has produced blockbuster fixtures almost immediately.
Arsenal will face Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Manchester City will meet Barcelona and defending champions PSG.
Liverpool will face Atlético Madrid and Inter.
Manchester United will meet Bayern Munich among other heavyweight opponents.
The excitement is obvious.
But there is another side to the story.
Is the new Champions League format creating too many huge matches too early?
Fans Love Big Games
From a commercial perspective, the answer is obvious.
Barcelona vs Manchester City.
Arsenal vs Real Madrid.
PSG vs Manchester City.
These are fixtures television broadcasters dream about.
Fans also want to see the biggest clubs playing each other.
But Something Has Been Lost
The traditional Champions League group stage created anticipation.
Supporters could watch a group develop over several matchdays.
The new league phase produces a different type of competition.
Every club faces eight opponents, with different levels of difficulty.
That makes the schedule more complicated.
Is It Fair?
This is where the controversy becomes serious.
One club may face several European giants.
Another may receive a comparatively manageable schedule.
If qualification is decided by points, strength of schedule can have a huge impact.
More Matches Also Mean More Pressure
Top clubs already play enormous numbers of matches.
Adding more high-profile European games could increase fatigue.
Players are not machines.
The more matches they play, the greater the risk of injuries.
But UEFA Has a Strong Argument
The new format creates more meaningful matches.
There are fewer opportunities for clubs to simply cruise through an easy group.
That can make the competition more entertaining.
Final Verdict
The new Champions League format has already delivered enormous fixtures.
Whether that is good for football remains debatable.
More blockbuster matches may be fantastic for supporters.
But players, coaches and clubs may eventually question whether there are simply too many games.
Has UEFA improved the Champions League, or has football become overloaded with fixtures?