Manchester United shouldn’t have been in it, Arsenal shouldn’t have been in it, Bayern Munich shouldn’t be in it, Barcelona shouldn’t be in it, Chelsea should’ve been in it.
Celtic, and Dynamo Zagreb shouldn’t have had to qualify to get in it. And neither should have Debrecen.
Any ideas?
Well it shouldn’t take too long to put two and two together and come up with the bloated and convoluted behemoth that is the UEFA Champions League.
A competition that is so far removed from the title it continues to utilise that trades descriptions should really be getting their lawyers involved.
The brainchild of a committee somewhere in the not too distant past that placed financial gain ahead of anything that could have been considered a sporting principle, it has grown to the point where it no longer does – if it ever did – as it is supposed to.
The Arsenal versus Bayern Munich clash earlier in the week highlighted everything that is wrong with the very concept of an event that is, in name only, for champions.
Neither side won their domestic leagues last season, the Gunners finishing 19 points behind Manchester City and Bayern eight adrift of Borussia Dortmund, and neither side had to sweat unduly to reach the knockout stages.
Six group games, or 540 minutes if you want to be pedantic, of time that would be better spent doing something else and not merely setting the stage before the continent’s heavy hitters have to step it up a gear.
A schedule that fills the TV listings but doesn’t offer the cutthroat competition that it should.
And all to line the pockets of the clubs and massage UEFA’s bottom line.
How else can you explain the fact that a number of countries’ champions have to pre-qualify for the gravy train?
Why should Celtic be forced to book their place among the elite when they came out on top in their own backyard?
I realise it’s down to a baffling system called the co-efficient of whatever, or something like that, which ranks leagues in terms of quality, but in truth it’s nothing short of patronising.
Are the champions of Croatia poorer relations than the side who triumphed in Spain? No they aren’t, but UEFA sees them as such.
Manchester United couldn’t win the Premier League but they are worthy of a red-carpeted shot at the European Cup ahead of Debrecen, who were successful in Hungary.
It stinks of giving those with the clout even more of the same and devalues the format which used to be very obvious and very simple.
League winners and the defending champions made up the entrants for a two-legged knockout which was streamlined and showed off cup football at its finest.
If the Swedish champions were drawn to face superior opposition from Spain then so be it and if two clubs from the same country met, as Liverpool and Nottingham Forest once did, then that was purely down to the luck of the draw.
Instead we now have sides that are seeded to allow safer passage and a contrived draw that means fellow countrymen can’t meet until the latter stages.
Those who regularly fill the slots – Manchester United, Bayern, Real Madrid et al – will never complain, because they have the best of everything but the second-class citizens of the European game should be up in arms as they are, year on year, dumped on from a great height.
They won’t of course, due to the vast riches that are within their grasp, but the competition is all the poorer for its top heavy bias.
Champions League? They’re having a laugh.
Adrian
Guest
what Brian said is 100% the UEFA Co-efficient system give ever country league a chance to have teams into UCL, base on past results of their teams in UCL and Europa league over 5 years ,,, every champion play at some stage of UCL 1-12 leagues team champion start from the group stage of UCL 3 champions from leagues ranked 13–15 start in Third qualifying round 31 champions from associations 16–47 start from Second qualifying round Also, a league Champion team does not play a non champion team on till the group stage , so there always 17 teams as Champion of there leagues, playing in UCL group stage really...i think most people, don't understand, some of those great eastern european leagues of the past, just how bad the standed is in those leagues today for me..i think UEFA give every league a very good chance
Matt Man
Roar Rookie
Yes, of course he was. However, I do find it sad that the prestige of the FA Cup is slowly dimishing. It was sad to see how evident this was in the lead up.
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football
Guest
You can call me MfIftDPRoF..... :-)
jbinnie
Guest
Alec - The timing is all wrong I know but see another "Roar Pro" Nick Giannetta has today posted in these columns an article praising the standard of the games played in the Europa League round of 16 play offs to get into the quarter finals, so there you have it ,one man's meat is another man's poison. jb
jbinnie
Guest
Hear,Hear---------------- What is your name again???????????jb
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football
Guest
Ok, thanks for clearing that up jb. I would hate to read content by somebody pretending to be you. We should all do the same.
jbinnie
Guest
Are you really so naive??? It is not I who puts my name at the top of my offerings but by typing in my initials it authenticates that it is I who have written the content. Is that being pretentious.? Still don't know who wrote your opinions do I ?, but note you continue to use your "laugh" so we are left to wonder who the comedian is !!!!!!! jb
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football
Guest
Sorry but my nom-de-plume is nothing more than a little laugh on my behalf. Done purposely because most people here have have such naff user names. And I'd like to encourage everyone to be a little more creative themselves. But why do you feel the need to initialise your comments when your name is at the top of the comment plain to see for everyone? The Cattery does the same and I cringe everytime. It's like a signature of sorts or a royal seal perhaps. Unnecessary.
jbinnie
Guest
Using my initials is "pretentious".!!!!!!. With your ridiculous nom-de- plume is that not the pot calling the kettle black, or are you so far removed from what you write that you intentionally do not use your name to back your opinion.??? jb.
jbinnie
Guest
Matt - Being an owner,and thereore a heavy investor ,was Ken Bates not entitled to seek some sort of "extra" return on his investment. What that "fact of financial life" has to do with the format of a competition is surely minor, and purely personal.jb
Harsh Sinha
Roar Guru
Its the best teams in Europe who deserves to play. The champions of Hungary or Sweden or any other minnow league is no match for as much as 10 teams from top leagues.
Adrian
Guest
engilsh clubs where ban for some of that time , i think
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football
Guest
But generally it's not the top shelf teams from the BIG 3 so there is a chance for smaller teams to win it i.e. Shaktar Donetsk or Dynamo Moscow. And a run to the semis or even quarters is a massive thing for the very small clubs. Most of continental Europe eats and breathes European Cup. They enjoy their domestic leagues but when one team goes on a run in Europe everyone gets behind them especially in the countries with lower ranking leagues.
King Robbo
Guest
I think the format has a major part that teams like Anderlecht, Ajax or Steau Bucharest dont win the UCL anymore, but another huge factor was the 3 foreigner rule that applied prior to the bosman ruling. Big clubs could not hog all the best players in the world and there were enough souh americans to go around. A good team was always based on the strength of its local products. Players in Belgium, holland, portugal stayed playing local leagues a lot longer, while eastern european players had to play for local teams. Remember romario playing for psv in his prime or ajax players like edgar davids, bergkamp, kluivert all being established players before moving to bigger clubs. Steau, Red Star and dynamo kiev were pretty much their respective national teams. Italians, Spanish and English players rarely ventured outside there own country, while only the cream of the crop from Germany (klinsman, brehme and mattheus did for inter) did. Seems now days, you play 1 good year in your country of origin and man city, barcelona and real madrid come knocking at the door.
Bondy
Guest
Fuss, Good points , also you dont see that " scoreline " to often,out on the away goals rule or I generally dont see it that often..
Matt Man
Roar Rookie
Yes, but it's taken over by the big three (unless they can't be bothered and play reserves). Like the UCL, it's this hybrid monstrosity of some countries getting more places and then other teams entering the competition at a later stage. Both are a big mess. Just imagining a world cup where clubs from a country take the place of a minnow like Togo because they are more marketable.
Joe Gorman
Expert
sure that is a problem that can arise, but I hardly think that the current structure is a great solution. There will probably be difficulties with any format, but if everybody knows from the beginning that it's only the league champion that qualifies, it doesn't favour the wealthier nations. Of course they are still likely to produce the winner, but at least more teams and nations are represented.
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football
Guest
It's a VERY big deal for all the countries outside the big three (ENG,ITA,SPA).
pete4
Guest
It's Dinamo Zagreb not Dynamo. Yes I also read the 64 team idea recently UEFA are considering a proposal to double the number of teams in the Champions League from 32 to 64 teams. The idea would see the Europa League scrapped and it will integrate both tournaments into 1 big tournament starting in 2014. I really hope it doesn't go down this path...
Minister for Information for the Democratic People's Republic of Football
Guest
Can you please stop signing off with jb. It's sooooo pretentious!