Madrid seem to have had a knack for it, but were they really the best team in Europe? Their struggles domestically would suggest otherwise. Some teams just seem to be set up better for knockout competitions.
Liverpool also obviously aren’t better than City but are champions. A stronger side is always likely going to win, but not always the strongest because the margins are so fine. Last season could so easily have been City’s year had a couple of big moments gone their way against us. Going out on away goals is seriously harsh too, and we did that to both them and Ajax!
OK a prime example is Juventus of the 90's - almost universally agreed upon as the best team in Europe despite only winning the CL once in the entire decade. Still, they were the team to beat, and the team others did beat to win the Cup. Other teams were measured by performance against them (we came of age with/because of them, for instance and Ajax were all the more exalted because of beating them of all teams in the final of their incredible campaign.) Different teams have taken their place at the top of the CL totem and are hailed as the best in Europe/the world for that period of time. League form/performance are not the measure of these sides, but what they do against other giants in highly pressurized, high stakes games, and the frequency with which a top team executes this gauges them and gives pedigree that is universally acknowledged and held in far higher esteem than battering a league (of majority inferiors) from pillar to post. League in conjunction with CL performance has merit, but without that CL confirmation, a league campaign in this day and age has caveats to it that were not there in decades gone by.
At the risk of joining in the derailment, I'm not sure what he means by that but it's not a real word as far as I'm aware.
can a man not make up words in peace!?
You might have been better in the Premiership, but there's a learning curve in Europe that takes a few years to master. United used to brush away domestic oppo in the mid 90's and were routinely coming up short in Europe. There's a different rhythm, subtlety, tactics, nous required in Europe. Until City master those, they cannot be considered the best in Europe a priori.
Exactly. We took our lumps and were exposed numerous times before getting the hang of it and becoming a force in our own right. Nobody in Europe gave two hoots about what we did or did not do domestically.
You're right, and I should be on my way!
Knockout competitions produce all sorts of false patterns for mythopoetically inclined fans to feast upon. Just ignore the blatant inconsistencies, squint long enough, and conveniently simple narrative will surely emerge.
My favorite is theory of club's European gravitas as the crucial occult factor in epic battles. This line of thinking is actually less stupid than the other ones. The worst one is a story of knockout football as the stage for truly elite tacticians vs mere squad depth in league football.
And yet, PSG, City, Barcelona and Juventus would trade their domestic dominance for true dominance against associative peers. With that comes pressure, nerves and performances that let them down on the big stage time and time again. Let's just ignore that whilst it accumulates over literal years - the same years where they are repeatedly battering their own leagues whilst coming up short in the tournament they most covet.
They won (and in most cases comprehensively outplayed) vs all the top teams in England, including glorious European finalists and even more glorious champions. One point difference doesn't really tell the true story as they were much better than Liverpool who were great, but obviously overachieved. Stats clearly indicate this.
Now, there is something about their coach getting in wrong in Europe in recent years. But it's not about getting it wrong tactically. It's exactly the opposite: investing too much into tactics, preparations and control, instead of going with the flow and trying to catch momentum. Keeping it simple would probably yield better results fot City in these ties that are more about momentum (and sometimes sheer chaos) than control. And in addition they really had everything going wrong way for them.
There's a reason City are bookies' favorites in all competitions. They are quite obviously the best footballing side in Europe. Again, in knockout competition that doesn't guarantee anything.
The only yardstick in England at the moment that isn't City is Liverpool. Liverpool ran them to the wire and constantly perform better than them in Europe. There's a mental block in Europe for City that is born out of pressure to perform and you have to do some impressive mental gymnastics to play it down. Pep ties himself in knots in the CL for a reason, knots he has no connection to in domestic football.
You're contradicting yourself in the middle paragraph - The CL isn't an altered beast, yet Pep suddenly loses his mind when faced with the pressure his standing demands of him in it?
As for City being favourites:
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/why...he-gall-to-talk-about-city-quadruples.445883/
every season, the same nonsense. City have done the square root of feck all to be considered favourites by anyone but shrewd bookmakers taking easy money off believers. Almost like the cult of Pep.
