As officials of Europe’s great clubs gather in Istanbul for the Champions League draw, it will be the first time many have been together in the same room since before Covid.
There will be some tension and sizing up. The biggest issues by far will be football politics, rather than any old-fashioned trepidation about who they might face in the draw. That is because of a discussion that is now beyond old-fashioned, which is that the competition’s group stage is boring and predictable. It is such a fait accompli it is set to be finished altogether, since this is the penultimate season of the old round-robin format. Enjoy the pompous pageantry of the draw while you can.
