Manchester City star Ilkay Gundogan has opened the debate on Champions League reform by suggesting new measures were harmful for players.
UEFA are reshaping the competition, with group games extended from six matches to 10.
Gundogan spoke out about the changes on social media, claiming the existing schedule ‘works great’.
The City midfielder wrote on Twitter: ‘With all the Super League stuff going on... can we please also speak about the new Champions League format?
‘More and more and more games, is no one thinking about us players?
‘The new UCL format is just the lesser of the two evils in comparison to the Super League.’
Pep Guardiola’s squad were vehemently opposed to the European Super League.
The City boss publicly criticised the proposals but also stated that UEFA were doing nothing to protect the players.
Gundogan added: ‘The UCL format right now works great and that is why it’s the most popular club competition in the world - for us players and for the fans.’
UEFA confirmed the changes at their meeting on Monday, amid the chaos surrounding the Super League.
City became the first club to withdraw from the breakaway project after signing up alongside 11 other clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus.
The club then sent an unreserved apology directly to each registered supporter for their role in the talks.
The letter, emailed to members individually rather than published on the official website, admitted that they had lost sight of the club's values.
Signed by chief executive Ferran Soriano, City detailed that they 'deeply regret' the decision to join up with five other Premier League clubs and talked of regaining trust with their fanbase.
Andy_Mac
547
Massive shoutout to Gündoğan - a man I respect for his football and attitude on the pitch, but now my respect for him has multiplied after this statement. We should all be thinking about the players too. The schedules are absolutely ridiculous and moreover, these reforms only serve the pockets of the UEFA and clubs. Moreover, the UEFA coefficient system is absurd. It totally kills meritocracy here. Sorry, but this game is turning away from the definition of the term "sport". If these reforms happen, I will have to stop watching football. Greed is killing this sport. We need to collectively stop these absurd reforms.
Fauzisma
471
ESL was created for money and now UEFA has created a format similar to ESL
all football activities is there for money but UEFA is there for money +corruption
cwesi2000
424
I like sensible people like you. and I know that sooner or later we are all gonna see the dark side of UEFA, then the fans will know that maybe the super league format was not the best but it was a good idea.
ishti
251
With the new format UEFA is trying to build something special