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They designed the system around the idea that 1st and 2nd placed finishers in the league phase can't meet until the Final. We've had so many Real Madrid/Man City meetings in recent years but none of them in the final because of the way the draws happened. (2021 is the only year in recent memory where it could've happened in the final, but Madrid fell at the last hurdle to Chelsea.)
Of course - and this is a point I immediately argued - there's absolutely zero guarantee whatsoever that the 1st and 2nd placed teams in the league phase are going to be the best and 2nd best teams in Europe, or at least in the competition. Right now 2nd-4th place are Sporting, Monaco, and Brest. This will no doubt change between now and the 2nd half of the league phase but when all you really need to do is finish top-8, I don't think a lot of clubs are too fussed about finishing anywhere specifically in that range, they'll take their chances from there. Again, if the knockout draw happened right now, there's a decent chance Liverpool (#1) would be drawn against Real Madrid (#18) while Aston Villa (#8) could face PSV (#24). Some reward for being the best team...
Of course - and this is a point I immediately argued - there's absolutely zero guarantee whatsoever that the 1st and 2nd placed teams in the league phase are going to be the best and 2nd best teams in Europe, or at least in the competition. Right now 2nd-4th place are Sporting, Monaco, and Brest. This will no doubt change between now and the 2nd half of the league phase but when all you really need to do is finish top-8, I don't think a lot of clubs are too fussed about finishing anywhere specifically in that range, they'll take their chances from there. Again, if the knockout draw happened right now, there's a decent chance Liverpool (#1) would be drawn against Real Madrid (#18) while Aston Villa (#8) could face PSV (#24). Some reward for being the best team...