My Revamped Champions League Group Stage

Pot 1 Team Coeff  Real Madrid[TH] 176.142  Barcelona 159.142  Leicester City 15.256  Bayern Munich 163.035  Juventus 107.087  Benfica 116.616  Paris Saint-Germain 112.549  CSKA Moscow 48.71 Team Coeff  Atlético Madrid 144.142  Borussia Dortmund 110.035  Arsenal 105.256  Manchester City[LR] 99.256  Sevilla 95.642  Porto[LR] 92.616  Napoli 90.087  Bayer Leverkusen 89.035

Pot 2

Team	Coeff
Basel	87.755
Tottenham Hotspur	74.256
Dynamo Kyiv	65.976
Lyon	63.049
PSV Eindhoven	57.112
Sporting CP	51.616
Club Brugge	43.000
Borussia Mönchengladbach[LR]	42.035

Team	Coeff
Celtic[CR]	40.460
Monaco[LR]	36.549
Beşiktaş	34.920
Legia Warsaw[CR]	28.000
Dinamo Zagreb[CR]	25.775
Ludogorets Razgrad[CR]	25.625
Copenhagen[CR]	24.720
Rostov[LR]	11.716

Pot 3

Villarreal

60.142

    Roma41.587

 Olympiacos70.940

 Viktoria Plzeň44.585

 Astra Giurgiu11.076League Route

 Shakhtar Donetsk81.976

 Ajax58.112

 Anderlecht54.000

 Fenerbahçe40.920

 Sparta Prague40.58

 PAOK37.440

 Steaua București36.576

 Monaco36.549

 Young Boys24.755

 Rostov11.716

Pot 4 

Red Bull Salzburg

42.520

APOEL	35.935
BATE Borisov	34.000

Qarabağ	13.475
Rosenborg	12.850
Astana	12.575
Sheriff Tiraspol	10.575
Red Star Belgrade	7.175
Dinamo Tbilisi	5.875
FH	5.750
Trenčín	5.400
F91 Dudelange	5.050
Žalgiris Vilnius	4.925
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	4.725
Olimpija Ljubljana	4.625
Vardar	4.200
IFK Norrköping	3.975

So in this new format, the easiest group possible would be CSKA Moscow, Copenhagen, Young Boys  and IFK Norrkoping. To think that one of those teams would have to win the group would be exciting for all four teams. I will admit, last years Swedish Champions might struggle a bit but not to the extent that Malmo struggled the past few years. 

The easiest group possible in the current format this year would have been CSKA Moscow, Bayern Leverkusen, Club Brugge and Legia Warsaw. The odds of that group coming to fruition was slim to none and at the end of the day, I doubt that group would have been competitive anyway. 

A larger group stage opens up the door for more competitive matches. The Champions League Group Stage isn't competitive right now not because the lower teams are bad, but more so because their are too many strong teams with only 8 groups. 

Creating a 64 team group stage isn't ideal but it gives the lower level teams a way bigger chance at avoiding strong teams. 

Lets face it, Ludogorets Razgrad had no chance at getting out of Group A this year which featured Arsenal, PSG and Basel. Placed in Pot 4 and drew two strong teams and to be honest fared decently all things considered. 

Not saying at all that every group would be competitive but the chances are higher. A tough group in the new format would be Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, Roma and Red Bull Salzburg. Based on the numbers that would be the hardest group possible. 

If you still don't believe me, simulate a draw yourself. The 32 team group stage is horrid for UEFA right now because the Top 16 are so much better than the next 16 teams in UEFA. This format would make European nights fun again in smaller countries. As of now, too many countries have long droughts of not competing in the group stage. That needs to change, UEFA needs to grow soccer in their 55 countries. Not just the three cities that are named Barcelona, Madrid and Munich.