What the hell is this car crash of a thread? People downplaying early era CL wins? Why? See a list of Hamburg and Ajax in it as a "weak run". Would it better if it was Pep Guardiolas Barcelona and Bayern Munich listed? Because Hamburg were German champions and Ajax was consistently a great side until they lost out on the financial muscle. Smaller countries also had excellent sides as for a while, you couldn't leave your home country until 27 to play football abroad, leading to a much more balanced success level across Europe. Only Champions being in the Champions League probably making it more special too. If anything, I wish they'd go back to that.