Tom Clark: Champions League revamp is succeeding

From the outset, it was fairly obvious that the new format of the Champions League was Uefa's answer to the European Super League with the additional bonus of a few extra euros, dollars and pounds in their coffers to boot.

It was therefore easy to be cynical about the revamped competition and head into this season with a closed mind about the changes but after 54 fixtures and three matchdays, the tournament is beginning to take shape and the signs are positive.

The format will take some time to get used to and a few seasons before concrete conclusions can be drawn, but so far so good. 

As a neutral in this season's competition, the increase in matchups of the giants has appealed greatly. Real Madrid’s fantastic comeback against Borussia Dortmund followed by Barcelona’s decimation of Bayern Munich the following night were thrilling watches. 

Real’s fightback might have been predictable given their history of such reactions in the Champions League but it was also somewhat necessary for Los Blancos. 

Had they fallen to defeat, they would have been under pressure when taking on fellow European heavyweights Milan and Liverpool in their next two matches. Defeat in either of those fixtures would not have spelled curtains for their title defence but would have made things tougher in the long run due to the seeded nature of the knockout stage. 

This is a pressure Milan and Bayern Munich now face due to their poor starts to the competition. Teams that perennially cruise through the group stage will be under no illusion that they need to pull out a couple of results, and quickly.

Avoiding dead rubbers and maintaining interest throughout the group stage was a key component of the new format, both issues that befell the previous incarnation of the competition. 

There will be a few matches towards the end of the stage with less riding on them than others – Liverpool, and somewhat surprisingly, Aston Villa appear to be well on their way to cruise control with maximum points – but with 18 matches spread across two evenings, there will always be fixtures with jeopardy and big names facing off to get the juices flowing.

With the top eight heading directly into the last 16 and avoiding the playoff round, plus the added bonus of a seeded path to the final there is certainly an incentive to finish as high in the group as possible.

With so much talk around player welfare and fatigue, avoiding an extra round of matches is not to be sniffed at even if the new format has added two matches to the group phase, something that clubs with deeper squads cope with more easily.

For fans, an increase in away trips will add to the fun of the competition, as does the variety of opposition when playing eight teams rather than three. For the struggling teams there are more winnable games in store with matches against sides from the same seeded pot, while knowing there is no Europa League backup provides constant jeopardy.

Removing the Europa League safety net is a positive step from Uefa. The second-tier competition is an exciting one and does not need the introduction of Champions League failures halfway through to strengthen it. And it's more appealing from a betting perspective.

Credit where credit is due, Uefa, whether intentionally or not, have improved both the Champions League and Europa League this season, and despite the extra fixtures, have made the group stage a more entertaining product.

As the saying goes, people love change as long as things stay the same, and the last 16 may well end up looking similar to the previous few seasons. But at least the journey to that stage will have been more exciting, and in the end, maybe that is enough.

Read more from Racing Post Sport . . .

Mark Langdon: Inter Miami cannot be welcome in new Club World Cup
Simon Giles: Gunners' short-term pains could be masking their long-term potential
Steve Palmer: unashamedly shout it from the rooftops - betting is ruddy great fun 

Click for free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post