Vadim
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2018
- Messages
- 1,739
There is nothing, NOTHING like a CL final when your club is involved.I've genuinely never had any interest in the Champions League. I could count on one hand the number of CL games I watched before City first qualified for the competition. It was totally irrelevant to me as a City fan (first game in 1990) because we never had a hope of qualifying and because of the way it was skewing the league (when CL TV money was more important than it is now in the era of huge PL TV deals) -- the biggest teams qualified for the CL, earnt extra TV money, used the TV money to get stronger, qualified again, earnt extra TV money and round and round.
Now that City have been in it for a few years my position is still the same, and of course we've had our well-publicised issues with UEFA since then as well. I'll watch the games but I'm disconnected. I always want City to win, but a poor CL result is forgotten immediately while a poor PL result ruins my week. The CL semi-final loss was forgotten that night. I still haven't got over the Wigan FA Cup final loss.
The ultimate test to me has always been to be the best team in the country. After that it's the domestic cup competitions. And lastly the CL. Any time I say that to non-City fans they think I'm either mental or must be taking the piss, but it's just how I feel.
I think if the CL was a straight knockout for champions I'd be much more interested. Or even if it was the same groups/knockout structure as now, but totally unseeded and no separating out teams from same country etc in the group stages. That feels to me like a sporting competition. As it is now, it just seems like a structure designed by the elite for the elite to try to guarantee progress and maximise income.
Trust me, you would change your tune on the CL if City got to a final against one of the giants and you win it. There is nothing like it.