CL should introduce wildcards, says Barca president

[rednev]

"Sometimes, for the interest of football, why not give wildcards like in tennis," Bartomeu toldBBCSport. "Sometimes the top players don't qualify and are given wildcards for the interest. This can happen in football. That is the decision of Uefa.

"Sometimes, clubs have a bad season and it is a big punishment to not play in the Champions League. We need a stronger Champions League and more and more interest for the football fans and to make it more competitive.

"The Champions League is the biggest competition and most important one."

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2914...ns-league-should-introduce-wildcards-bartomeu

If the club engages the PR machine/lobbies UEFA hard enough (and maybe posts a few brown envelopes), perhaps Manchester United could win the Wildcard Trophy™ over the summer? I can't see any other way we're going to get Champions League football any time soon.

 

[Brown Toothpick]

No.

 

[RustyS]

We are not playing like a top team and we would not improve the competition. Why would be given said Wildcard?

If it is up for sale however...

 

[Jam]

That quote mentions the 'top players [teams]' and wants it to happen to make the competition more interesting. I think you're confusing us with a really interesting top team.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Don't deserve shit atm. If teams cannot qualify then they don't deserve it.

Imagine if Liverpool got something like this during their "transition period." Or if toxic players like Hazard could sneak his way into the CL.

 

[RoadTrip]

Given how corrupt football is, this is SUCH a bad idea.

And if there was a tournament we would win jack diddly squat anyway.

So no.

 

[Bojan11]

We are not playing like a top team and we would not improve the competition. Why would be given said Wildcard?

If it is up for sale however...

Because it's all about money. Man Utd and AC Milan are big attractions, so it hurts UEFA if they not in the champions league.

 

[BBRBB]

It's very easy to qualify to the Champions League, any team who doesn't qualify really doesn't deserve to be in it. There are already way too many advantages for big clubs.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

Pretty good idea if you ask me, depending on the criteria.

Felt we really deserved a wild card after the Moyes season, after a record of 17 consecutive seasons playing Champions League and making 3 finals in the last 6 years at that time and having a huge budget to buy top players it was very weird not to see us in the biggest tournament.

I believe small clubs make around around 20 million for playing in the group stages of the Champions League. Surely we could've reimbursed a club with no history like say Cluj or Maribor by paying them 30 million, after which they got to take a place in the Europa League so they'd still have European football at a level where there's a bigger chance they could've been competitive.

Not sure how I would feel about a club like Spurs getting a wildcard though, of course they would be good for the tournament but at the same time they can't make any historical claim. But massive clubs like Real, United or Milan who have a great history in the tournament should always be in it as far as I'm concerned, preferably taking the place of smallest clubs with the lowest budgets and the fewest chance of getting results in the group stage.

I also definitely believe the draws of the knock-out rounds have been fixed over the years, that hasn't harmed the tournament. So why should giving wildcards to some of the biggest clubs in the history of the tournament be harmful or unfair?

 

[adexkola]

feck the entire feck off with that fecking bullshit. What is this, Euroleague basketball?

This is a result of letting non-champions in. Now they think they're entitled to a place in the tournament. No cnut, you're here to make up the numbers. If you can't win the trophy or finish high enough in your league then just keep walking, this isn't for you.

 

[Mibabalou]

Absolute joke if they ever decide to do something like this.

One step closer to that European super league if something like this ever happens.

 

[Scorpy]

Horrendous idea.

 

[horsechoker]

If this benefits United I'm all for it, but if not then I am opposed to it

 

[SteveJ]

Pretty good idea if you ask me, depending on the criteria.

Felt we really deserved a wild card after the Moyes season, after a record of 17 consecutive seasons playing Champions League and making 3 finals in the last 6 years at that time and having a huge budget to buy top players it was very weird not to see us in the biggest tournament.

I believe small clubs make around around 20 million for playing in the group stages of the Champions League. Surely we could've reimbursed a club with no history like say Cluj or Maribor by paying them 30 million, after which they got to take a place in the Europa League so they'd still have European football at a level where there's a bigger chance they could've been competitive.

Not sure how I would feel about a club like Spurs getting a wildcard though, of course they would be good for the tournament but at the same time they can't make any historical claim. But massive clubs like Real, United or Milan who have a great history in the tournament should always be in it as far as I'm concerned, preferably taking the place of smallest clubs with the lowest budgets and the fewest chance of getting results in the group stage.

I also definitely believe the draws of the knock-out rounds have been fixed over the years, that hasn't harmed the tournament. So why should giving wildcards to some of the biggest clubs in the history of the tournament be harmful or unfair?

I can hardly believe that post is serious.

 

[Insanity]

Barcelona president - Real, Barcelona, United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern, Juventus, Inter & Milan should always be in the champions league. That's why it was created, duh!

 

[RustyS]

Pretty good idea if you ask me, depending on the criteria.

Felt we really deserved a wild card after the Moyes season, after a record of 17 consecutive seasons playing Champions League and making 3 finals in the last 6 years at that time and having a huge budget to buy top players it was very weird not to see us in the biggest tournament.

I believe small clubs make around around 20 million for playing in the group stages of the Champions League. Surely we could've reimbursed a club with no history like say Cluj or Maribor by paying them 30 million, after which they got to take a place in the Europa League so they'd still have European football at a level where there's a bigger chance they could've been competitive.

Not sure how I would feel about a club like Spurs getting a wildcard though, of course they would be good for the tournament but at the same time they can't make any historical claim. But massive clubs like Real, United or Milan who have a great history in the tournament should always be in it as far as I'm concerned, preferably taking the place of smallest clubs with the lowest budgets and the fewest chance of getting results in the group stage.

I also definitely believe the draws of the knock-out rounds have been fixed over the years, that hasn't harmed the tournament. So why should giving wildcards to some of the biggest clubs in the history of the tournament be harmful or unfair?

The bit in bold is terrible.

 

[Xaviesta]

I disagree with Bartomeu. If you can't qualify for the Champions League, bad luck you're not good enough.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

The bit in bold is terrible.

I can hardly believe that post is serious.

Well it would depend on the situation too, this season we've been terrible for the second time in three years, I'm not quite sure if we would deserve some kind of wild card for the CL. And maybe my logic was rather flawed.

But I just don't think it would be a terrible idea to have wild cards for some of the absolute top clubs in Europe. I'm from Holland, every year it's the same story in the Champions League for our clubs. Sure it's nice for the fans to have a couple of group matches against potential top opponents, and literally once every ten years a club goes through to the knock-out rounds like PSV this year. But the reality is that the Champions League is not for the glory or the chance for small clubs to compete with the best clubs in the world, it really only is important to be in the Champions League because of the money it brings in. Therefore I'm pretty sure many clubs from smaller leagues would happily trade their place for 150% of the money they would make by being in the group fase of Champions League while getting a place in the Europa League instead.

At the same time I don't see what giving wild cards would have to do with the fact that there are already too much advantages for big clubs or something. Football has changed a lot since clubs like Ajax were still a regular contender, and unless they rewind the Bosman ruling or install a max of 3 foreign players per team again, clubs from smaller leagues are never going to be serious contenders except for a fluke. Stoke City now probably has more budget than most clubs that win the smaller leagues because of the tv deals of their national league, that's got nothing to do with the set-up of the Champions League.

So I guess I was trying to say I just don't see a problem with a tournament that gives special privileges to some elite clubs who could be genuine contenders and have a really good history in the tournament, to me it's not really unfair. Or at least not more unfair than some club from a semi-corrupt eastern European league qualifying because they won the league, while at the same time a record holder for consecutive appearances from the best league in the world doesn't get in because they had a poor season.

 

[marukomu]

This is how Nazi Germany started.

 

[Skills]

sounds like a great idea to me

 

[Varun]

Horrible idea. $$$$ fest is what it will turn into.

 

[Kostur]

Imo expand the idea and let us buy a trophy itself as well, if a place as suggested here could cost say 30 mln Euro then let's make trophy worth 100 mln Euro so we can make it 5 times la'.

It's very nice to Barca's president to think of us but no, I'd rather be out of it than be in it due to some shit regulations and idiotic rule. We don't deserve it anyway, simple as.

 

[Raees]

Embarrassing if we won a CL on the back of this.

 

[Bojan11]

Embarrassing if we won a CL on the back of this.

How?

Not sure how it could ever be embarrassing to win the champions league. It means you beaten a lot of good teams. Hardly embarrassing.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Worst idea ever.

It works in tennis because the unseeded players are almost always those of very little influence, whereas in football and the CL, you have hugely influential near-billion dollar businesses missing out.

 

[anant]

I'd rather have a 64 team Euro with K/O then group stages and then round of 16, ... than have wildcards. Lower teams will suffer, Teams like us, Milan, Chelsea, Pool will enjoy

 

[Balu]

What an awful idea.

 

[Stringer]

Would be worth it if we got in and Liverpool didn't. RAWK would implode.

 

[GBBQ]

I think the wildcard idea might have been a goer when only the champions of a league qualified but now its already hugely stacked in favour of the rich clubs so if we can't finish top 4 we've no business being in the competition.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

Well fair enough if you simply think it's a stupid idea. But some of the counter arguments are just as weird as my drunken logic

 

[Siorac]

Big clubs have all the advantages anyway. Why give them more when they feck up? They don't deserve even more insurance against failure.

 

[Rado_N]

Well fair enough if you simply think it's a stupid idea. But some of the counter arguments are just as weird as my drunken logic

No they're really not.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

No they're really not.

Because fake plastic clubs like City, Chelsea, PSG and countless eastern European examples haven't basically been buying their way into the tournament for years now, taking the place of others while not hindered in the slightest by the farce that Financial Fair Play has been? Besides, reimbursing a smaller club was just a possible solution for the problem that handing out a wild card would bring, because it would mean taking the place of another team since you'd still have to make 8 groups with 4 teams in the end.

And saying a wild card means the CL would turn into a $$$$$ fest, like it hasn't been like that for ages?

How is it embarassing to actually win the cup by qualifying with a wild card, you'd need to beat many great teams over many matches to accomplish that.

Anyway I guess I just don't see what's so great and fair about the current set-up of the tournament, and therefore I don't see the need to hold such rigid criteria when it comes to letting teams in, so I'd have no problems with it at all.

 

[ArmandTamzarian]

Even as a Liverpool fan I think this is a ludicrous idea, if you don't qualify then get fecked, you want to qualify on merit not on a pity vote.

 

[rcoobc]

They already have wild card entries; in the form of a place for the Champions League winner (and Europa League winner).

Thankfully this will be laughed away by the leagues. Top 4 is a massive selling point for them.

 

[2 man midfield]

Wouldn't like this. If you don't qualify you shouldn't be in it. Simple as.

 

[rcoobc]

Why does Barca's president even want this.. They already qualify twice over in most years as it is!

 

[ottosec]

Terrible idea.

 

[R0nald0]

What next - wildcard into the knockout bit if you are a "big" team. Pay one of the smaller clubs off and they go into Europa! Maybe if a small club gets to the final, we can buy their place too?

What a ridiculous idea - another nail in the coffin of football if it was even considered.

The teams that are in the CL are in there because they deserve it

 

[VP]

Ridiculous. Not content with corrupting the World Cup, Barca now looking to corrupt the Champions League.