Arne Slot has a suggestion to improve Champions League format after being "so unlucky": "Maybe I am speaking too soon..."

Liverpool's elimination from Champions League was particularly painful because it came with the English side being favourite for the title, after doing a near perfect run in the League Phase earlier in the season -that substituted the traditional Group Stage-: they won seven games in a row, securing their number 1 spot, losing only the final game with a team made of substitues.

That has left coach Arne Slot wondering if it was worth it: "It is something now to take into consideration about how much worth it is to end up first in the league table if you can face Paris Saint-Germain in the next round", he said in the press conference after the match, that ended in penalties.

Slot has nothing but good things to say about PSG, believing they are the best team they've faced this season ("If you have to go out then go out in the way like we did", he said). However, he also feels a certain (were, a large amount of) unluck went on their side: "It is so, so, so unlucky if you are No.1 in the league table that you then face Paris Saint-Germain, which is one of the best teams in Europe, but that's the format we are in".

The format has debuted this year for all UEFA club competitions, so it won't change again, but Slot believes it should. "Maybe I am speaking too soon now but maybe it would be more fair that after the round in between, the one that wins the league table plays against the team that is lowest position after the teams have played".

Had this been the case, Liverpool would have played Club Brugge (who finished 24th in the table but beat Atalanta 5-2 in the play-offs) and Barça, second, would have played Feyenoord. PSG, 15th, would have played Inter Milan, fourth in the League Phase.

The difference between ending 1st or 8th at Champions League

The format makes the top 8 teams automathically qualify for the round of 16, while teams between 9 and 24 had to play a previous knock-out playoff. PSG ended 15, so he had to play Brest, which ended 18... and PSG won 10-0 on aggregate.

Due to the way the system works, the top 1 and 2 teams face teams that ended the League Phase between 15, 16 ,17 or 18, whereas teams that ended the League 7 or 8 face teams that ended 9, 10, 23 or 24. Topping the League means less chances to fight one of the "theoretically" best teams from the play-off (the ones ending 9th or 10th), and more chances to playing a team from the middle of the table. Instead, finishing 7th or 8th means the risk of playing against one of the "better" teams, 9th or 10th in the round of 16... but also get the chance of playing against one of the "worst" teams qualified, 23rd or 24th.

In the end, in a competition like Champions League, it is impossible to predict where the most in-form teams will end... and also if you will be lucky: if Liverpool had been paired with Benfica -and PSG with Barça-, which was decided by luck, the story may be different now.