UEFA

There have been a litany of awesome players in the UEFA Champions League down the years, so much so that creating an Ultimate XI is a task that could, in theory, drive one to madness. 

Newly elected UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin outlined his vision for football's administrative body in Europe during an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. Ceferin’s most newsworthy propositions are the repercussions from reviving UEFA’s open bidding process for the right to host the Champions League final.

Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney has now figured in two shock results for the Hoops in the UEFA Champions League — their stunning 2-1 win over Barcelona in November of 2012 and their not-as-stunning-but-still impressive 3-3 draw with Manchester City on Wednesday night.

Both matches were at Celtic Park.

But the 19-year-old’s role against City was certainly different than his task against the Blaugrana in 2012.

The UEFA Champions League is supposed to be the best club competition in the world, and an elusive competition where the best of the best would compete. However, that hasn’t been the case for a while now. At least not in the group stage. 

We’ve seen too many one-sided results lately, such as Barcelona putting seven past Celtic, Borussia Dortmund dominating Legia Warsaw by six, and Bayern Munich hammering FC Rostov by five. The competition was losing its appeal and UEFA had to do something about it. 

Openly disdained by most Premier League clubs and truly loved by only a small sub-section of society (read: Sevilla), the Europa League has always been the Boo Radley of European football — it’s believed to be a horrible thing for everyone who comes into contact with it. Rumor has it that it’ll even ruin your domestic title chances while decimating your entire squad with injuries. 

The pot just got bigger for clubs in the UEFA Champions League — a lot bigger.

The Champions League groups were drawn in Mónaco on Thursday but the big news was the unveiling of the official match ball for the competition. The ball keeps the traditional star figures, this time in green, but it’s the writing in the stars that’s sure to capture the attention.

The stars have characterized the official Champions League ball in recent years, of course, accompanied by the logo of this UEFA tournament.

UEFA have tweaked the Champions League rules to benefit the big clubs and the big leagues. This comes as a surprise to approximately nobody.

Per ESPNFC:

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the UEFA Player of the Season, much to the chagrin of one Antoine Griezmann, who thought he merited the win.

Here's what Griezmann told World Soccer earlier this week:

"Without being big-headed, I think I deserve it because I had a great season with my club and with the national team. Maybe I deserve to win the award.