SHAMROCK ROVERS boss Stephen Bradley insisted that the new Conference League format allows smaller clubs to break the glass ceiling.
The Hoops host APOEL Nicosia in Tallaght on Thursday night as the revamped competition gets underway with Rovers facing six different opponents.
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Rather than groups, the 24 teams of the 36 with the best record following the games will qualify for next year’s knockout stages.
And the new system is one that Bradley believes can help clubs like the Hoops.
He said: “I think if we want to keep the elite as elites, I think the competition should have stayed the way it was previously.
“But the way it has opened up now, it’s showing clubs what they need to do to take that next step and push on.
“I know there has been some big scores (in the early stage of the Champions League) but I think it’s only natural in the starting phase of the competition.”
And his APOEL counterpart Jose Domingeuz warned his players that they will be facing something they have never face before.
He said: “They have strengths and they are a very intense team, a very competitive team.
“They have a very peculiar way of playing, very interesting – it is different. I rate this more more as a whole, as it never gives up, it is dynamic and attacks a lot.
“It is interesting to see something different to what we normally encounter. But we are fully prepared for them.”
