The "Champions' League" replaced the European Cup in the '90s. Now the "Europa League" has replaced the UEFA Cup. The Cup Winners' Cup was ditched several years ago.
Seedings, group stages, draws fixed to avoid national clashes early on, flashy & glitzy branding .....
Am I alone in thinking it's all just crass, commercial and boring now, and doesn't hold the same romance and excitement that European football competitions of yore once held, when it wasn't all weighted in favour of the "big" clubs, when anyone could be drawn against anyone, when it was strictly anything-can-happen straight "knockout" and a Romanian university team (or even teams like Villa and Forest) stood a chance of winning club football's ultimate prize?
Add to that the fact that teams like Man Utd, the Arse, Real Madrid, Bayern, Inter, Barca etc. etc. are now mostly made up of highly-paid foreign mercenaries to such a degree that it's hard to call them "English", "Italian", "German", "Spanish" etc. any more.
- Eric
European football competitions
Re: European football competitions
Should just be one big European cup, everyone in the hat from round one, no seeding, so anyone can draw anyone in any round, straight knockout over two legs.
TV would never allow it though.
TV would never allow it though.
We have need of you again, great king.
Re: European football competitions
Yes, I think the same as the European Cup was a straight knock-out over two legs, it was a better competition and I do not think it is fair that clubs
which are knockout of the Champions Cup, enter the Europa League and
so Sky and TV can more money for the games.
which are knockout of the Champions Cup, enter the Europa League and
so Sky and TV can more money for the games.
Ian King
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Arginald Valleywater
- Posts: 4288
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 am
Re: European football competitions
It is about money and nothing else, same as the Premier League. Somewhere in UEFA is a committee praying Man U, Barca, Bayern and Milan get through the group stages every season.
Re: European football competitions
Arginald Valleywater wrote:
>>
Very true.
And whaddaya know, just 5 minutes ago I stumble across this while surfing:
Says it all.
- Eric
>>
Very true.
And whaddaya know, just 5 minutes ago I stumble across this while surfing:
Says it all.
- Eric
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Dave Wells
- Posts: 2717
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:40 am
Re: European football competitions
I'm a Rangers fan,
and the Champions League was a fantastic idea when it first happened. And in the first ever Champions League we knocked out Leeds United the English Champions over two legs and came within a whisper of the Final, going out 2nd in our group without losing a single game. And then we bought Basile Boli the Marseille defender who scored the winner in the Final against AC Milan, the following season. Changed days indeed, eh?
At the beginning though the competition was strictly for the Champions. And was a very good format. The reason it changed was all the Big European Clubs, The G12 or G24 or now The G48 or whatever it was, lobbeyed FIFA & UEFA for it and threatened to break away from the competition and form their own as all the big money was in the Champions League and some really big clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, AC Milan, and PSG were sitting out of the competition. They wanted a slice of the pie and they got it. Typical UEFA buckled. And gave the big clubs what they wanted. When in theory they could have told them no and threatened them that if they formed their own competition they would be thrown out of their domestic league's. I somehow don't think the big clubs would have been so eager then. Though there have been rumours that some of the big clubs want to start their own leagues. In case you haven't realised by now. Ask any chairman, board member, chief executive and they will tell you football is a "Business" these days. Not a game that the fans can enjoy and clear their heads from their work and troubles for a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon and a Wednesday night!
As for Rangers or the eventual SPL Champions this season, we may be forced to go through 3 qualifiers to get to the Champions League next season, while 3rd place and 4th placed in the Premiership jump in later. This is scandalous. And now you might say we deserve that for our poor performances in European competition the last couple of seasons. Which is a fair point, but 3rd and 4th in the Premiership shouldn't even be there! Period!
Its not only us, but in the early 90's teams like Rosenberg, who had some great campaigns and had some shock results against the big teams, used the competition as a platform for the rest of Europe to see their players and a lot of them made big money moves to the Premiership, the SPL or La Liga. Now they don't even get a sniff. And a lot of other Champions get nowhere near the competiton now and never will. But you will never get UEFA or "The Big Boy's" to back down.
and the Champions League was a fantastic idea when it first happened. And in the first ever Champions League we knocked out Leeds United the English Champions over two legs and came within a whisper of the Final, going out 2nd in our group without losing a single game. And then we bought Basile Boli the Marseille defender who scored the winner in the Final against AC Milan, the following season. Changed days indeed, eh?
At the beginning though the competition was strictly for the Champions. And was a very good format. The reason it changed was all the Big European Clubs, The G12 or G24 or now The G48 or whatever it was, lobbeyed FIFA & UEFA for it and threatened to break away from the competition and form their own as all the big money was in the Champions League and some really big clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, AC Milan, and PSG were sitting out of the competition. They wanted a slice of the pie and they got it. Typical UEFA buckled. And gave the big clubs what they wanted. When in theory they could have told them no and threatened them that if they formed their own competition they would be thrown out of their domestic league's. I somehow don't think the big clubs would have been so eager then. Though there have been rumours that some of the big clubs want to start their own leagues. In case you haven't realised by now. Ask any chairman, board member, chief executive and they will tell you football is a "Business" these days. Not a game that the fans can enjoy and clear their heads from their work and troubles for a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon and a Wednesday night!
As for Rangers or the eventual SPL Champions this season, we may be forced to go through 3 qualifiers to get to the Champions League next season, while 3rd place and 4th placed in the Premiership jump in later. This is scandalous. And now you might say we deserve that for our poor performances in European competition the last couple of seasons. Which is a fair point, but 3rd and 4th in the Premiership shouldn't even be there! Period!
Its not only us, but in the early 90's teams like Rosenberg, who had some great campaigns and had some shock results against the big teams, used the competition as a platform for the rest of Europe to see their players and a lot of them made big money moves to the Premiership, the SPL or La Liga. Now they don't even get a sniff. And a lot of other Champions get nowhere near the competiton now and never will. But you will never get UEFA or "The Big Boy's" to back down.
Re: European football competitions
Well Rangers and Celtic are both crap anyway but yes the Champions League (if it must exist) should only be for the various champions not the runners up and certainly not the fourth place.
What other sport gives such rewards for coming fourth?
What other sport gives such rewards for coming fourth?
Re: European football competitions
Agree with the OP - bung everybody in a hat and play straight knockouts until we get a winner just like it used to be ....
When Sky started paying hundreds of millions per year just to cover football it was a recipe for disaster in this country and unfortunately Uefa have gone for the same over commercialised shite that blindly favours the big teams/countries and not least advertisers ... most of the English teams now gamble their whole season on finishing at least 4th and qualifying for the Champions League - problem is once they get to that stage they couldn't give a fuck as they have already pocketed the cash.
When Sky started paying hundreds of millions per year just to cover football it was a recipe for disaster in this country and unfortunately Uefa have gone for the same over commercialised shite that blindly favours the big teams/countries and not least advertisers ... most of the English teams now gamble their whole season on finishing at least 4th and qualifying for the Champions League - problem is once they get to that stage they couldn't give a fuck as they have already pocketed the cash.
PEOPLE think Stephen Hawking is so clever, but when you ask him a question and he is typing in the answer on his little screen, how do we know he isn't just looking up the answer on the Internet?