Van Gaal blasts Champions League format: "Kurto and Murto can play today"
Louis van Gaal says the Champions League has become too commercial and that weaker teams dilute the competition.
Legendary Dutch coach Louis van Gaal used blunt words to criticise the current Champions League setup on Thursday, saying the competition’s format has become “ridiculous” and that “Kurto and Murto” can now appear in the tournament. "Ridiculous format. Even 'Kurto and Murto' can play in the Champions League today," he said in remarks to Dutch media.
Van Gaal went further, accusing UEFA of putting money before the game. "UEFA only thinks about how to make money. It's a corrupt world," he said, repeating a long-held unease with the organisation's direction.
Open football ≠ higher quality, he argues
The former Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester United manager said he dislikes the recent trend towards high-scoring, open matches and does not see goals as a reliable indicator of quality. "It's called the Champions League, isn't it? Then the best should play. Not if you have such a big difference in quality. Then there would be fewer goals, but the matches would be of a higher standard and we would see better football," he said.
Van Gaal's criticism of the Champions League is not new. He has complained about UEFA's commercial direction since the competition's formative years: as early as 1994 he warned about a growing commercial monster, and after 1997 the tournament opened to non-champion clubs. Today his principal gripe centres on the presence of teams that, in his view, lack the quality to compete with Europe's elite.
While he did not single out any clubs in his latest comments, Van Gaal's remarks underscore an ongoing debate about competition format, sporting merit and the balance between revenue generation and on-field quality in Europe's premier club competition.
Photo: press material from the event
