Michel Platini denounces the excess of football, do the figures prove him right?

“There are too many (matches),” laments Michel Platini in an interview with France Télévisions. Has the pace of football matches become too much to keep up with everything? The former UEFA president regrets the time when broadcasts were rarer. “I love football as much, I come from a generation where there was a match every three months on television, where we arrive at a match, every minute… on television,” he explains, before specifying: “There are too many and I have no interest in it except to be passionate and I am passionate about footballers, not the rest.”

The new format of the Champions League

Since the 2024-2025 season, the Champions League has reached a new milestone. The old group stage brought together 32 teams divided into eight groups of four. Each club then played six matches, facing three opponents at home and away. Now, the competition brings together 36 teams in a single league phase, during which each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents. Or two additional meetings from the first stage.

But the difference widens especially during the final stages. With the old format, a team that reached the final through the round of 16 played 13 European matches: six in the group stage, then seven in knockout matches. With the new formula, this total increases to 15 matches for clubs qualified directly in the eighth, and can reach 17 matches for those forced to go through the play-offs. The reform therefore adds two to four potential encounters over a complete course.

Up to 60 matches per season

This increase is added to the national calendars. For example, PSG and Bayern Munich each play 34 league matches, compared to 38 for Manchester City, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Inter Milan. We must then count the national cups, the number of rounds of which varies depending on the results and exemptions.

For a team that goes far in all competitions, the total can exceed 55 official matches over a season, or even reach 60 or more depending on its course. And that's not all. Between the Nations League, qualifications for the Euro or the World Cup and friendly matches, the most sought-after players can still add around ten matches, or even more, to their annual calendar.