Restructuring the Champions League (or King's Cup because I always change the name) is also a must if Konami want to revitalize the Master League.
#1 - I give you a scenario of eight random league and cup champions from four different leagues...
Manchester United - Arsenal
Juventus - AC Milan
Barcelona - Real Madrid
Bayern Munich - Werder Bremen
The idea of championship qualification (be they league or cup) fulfils the criteria of only competition winners qualifying for a Champions League place, maintaining its prestige while also adding importance to the domestic cup competitions, difficulty in qualification (limited spaces) and participation (teams like Ream Madrid and AC Milan trying to squeeze you out of their elite group). I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I'm sick of facing teams like Aston Villa and Middlesborough in a competition that's supposed to be 'reward' for the previous season's hard grafting. This format ensures a healthy rotation of top quality teams entering the competition to prevent the experience from going stale (e.g. Man United/Juventus/Barcelona/Bayern may win the League/Cup one season, Chelsea/Inter Milan/Valencia/Stuttgart the next) while the elimination of a qualification round means there's zero risk of an uneven ratio of teams-per-league. There’s no reason for domestic rivals to clash in the group stage.
#2 -Imagine them split into two groups of four (two league and cup champions per group) with two home and away legs in each tie...
Group A
Manchester United
AC Milan
Barcelona
Werder Bremen
Group B
Arsenal
Juventus
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
Two groups provide an even distribution of quality throughout the competition. The quality of each side should break the predictability of knowing who’ll qualify from every group. The prospect of two home and away legs between each side (twelve matches for a single side - the same number any team plays en route to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League) emphasises the idea of a League of Champions, giving a fair and thorough assessment of how your team ranks when matched with the best the Master League has to offer as well as prolonging the competition over the course of a season. Home & Away form MUST be a factor in deciding a tied group, it's the European way...
#3 King's Cup Final
Group A winner v Group B winner
Nothing really needs explaining here, the two group winners meet in a titanic clash of epic proportions, however, such an occasion needs the appropriate stadia. My suggestion would be allowing us to customize a list of up to ten stadia in the game with 50'000 capacity or higher (Emirates, Allianz Arena, Dragao, Jose Avalade, etc...), or whatever your choice, to be set out at random to host finals for the next ten seasons. Having a fixed destination for every final would be far more realistic than a random, ugly, under-capacity stadium which fails to do the occasion justice.
#4 The Master’s Cup (or European Championship - yes, I do steal these names) - The format would mimic the current Champions League format, eight groups of four teams, home and away leg with the top two qualifying to the knock out round. Qualification would require a top five finish (or lower depending on Champions League qualification). For Example...
1st Manchester United - KC (League Champions)
2nd Chelsea - EC
3rd Arsenal - KC (Cup Champions)
4th Liverpool - EC
5th Everton - EC
6th Tottenham - EC
1st Juventus - KC (League Champions)
2nd AC Milan - KC (Cup Champions)
3rd Inter Milan - EC
4th Roma - EC
5th Fiorentina - EC
6th Udinese - EC
1st Barcelona - KC (League Champions)
2nd Valencia - EC
3rd Villareal - EC
4th Real Madrid - KC (Cup Champions)
5th Atletico Madrid - EC
6th Sevilla - EC
1st Bayern Munich - KC (League Champions)
2nd Borussia Dortmund - EC
3rd Bayer Leverkusen - EC
4th Hamburg - EC
5th Stuttgart - EC
6th Werder Bremen - KC (Cup Champions)
As you may or may not have guessed by this post, I hold a complete abhoration for the pointless qualification stage we’ve been subjected to on previous Master Leagues. I mean honestly, what’s the point a there’s only four league’s that exist? So, in my opinion, seeding should be based on League position, which would be...
Chelsea, Inter Milan, Valencia, Borussia Dortmund
Liverpool, Roma, Villareal, Bayer Leverkusen
Everton, Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Hamburg
Tottenham, Udinese, Sevilla, Stuttgart
This would give the player incentive to focus on the league even if the title race has already been decided, with a higher league position resulting in an easier path through the group stage as well as financial rewards varying depending on final league position. Once again no qualification stage means no risk of upsetting the teams-per-league ratio, thus the resulting draw wouldn’t feature two teams from the same League. After that the rest pretty much writes itself...
Group A
Chelsea
Villareal
Hamburg
Udinese
Group B
Valencia
Liverpool
Fiorentina
Stuttgart
Group C
Borussia Dortmund
Roma
Everton
Sevilla
Group D
Inter Milan
Bayer Leverkusen
Atletico Madrid
Tottenham
#5 Closing notes - I understand that the whole point of this game is realism, but in a mode as unique as the Master League realism is a relative term. The specialness has gone from the mode’s premier competitions and after five years a change must be made to refresh it. Oh, and for the love of GOD there MUST be a European Super Cup.