Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has warned newly-elected Uefa president Michel Platini not to tamper with the format of the Champions League.
Platini has replaced 77-year-old Swede Lennart Johansson as head of UEFA. the French legend wants to reduce each country’s maximum number of Champions League places from four to three, a move that will currently effect England, Italy and Spain.
But Ferguson said: “The tournament really starts in February, but I think it is ok the way it is at the moment.
“The appeal of the Champions League is when the giants of Spain or Italy or England come up against each other.
“The Champions League has been good,” Ferguson added. “If you go back a few years, there were maybe too many games with two qualifying groups because you had to play about 17 games to win it.
“If you take away the fourth place teams, the only way to address that is by reducing the competition or by giving other countries two places.”
