The Corinthian
I will not take Mad Winger's name in vain
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Sorry - another thread driven off the ESL and the CL changes.
But here's the thing - what's wrong with the current format of the Champions League?
I hear one of the drivers for the change in CL (according to UEFA) was the 'dead rubber' games in the group stages, which is just nonsense. Only this season, us, PSG, RB Leipzig, Real Madrid, Inter, Gladbach, and Shakhtar still had something to play for going into GW 5 and 6. Every few years, there's a story of a club going further than expected. Lyon and RB Leipzig last year, Ajax when they were seconds away from getting into the CL final a few seasons ago. Every year you get a story of an unfashionable club dumping out a 'big team' in the CL. Lyon and Porto have dumped Juve out, we exited the competition due to Sevilla in 2016, Ajax got rid of Real Madrid.
If the other driver is for more match ups between the 'big team of Europe', then why would you want this year in year out? Part of the reason these Champion League nights are held in such high esteem is that every so often you get games between the best of the best before the final and it means so much more defeating them on the way to the final. Think of us vs PSG in 2019, Liverpool vs Barca the same year. Even PSG vs Bayern this year was an excellent two legged tie. These matches are memorable because we don't play them each year. That's what makes it special.
Lastly, a few people have mentioned the lack of competition in the CL, and I get that. Generally, from the last 8 onwards, you get the same teams. From the 00/01 season to 09/10, we had 8 different winners (which is great). From the 10/11 season to 19/20, we only had 5 (not so great). But the other side of that is, clubs that haven't competed in the Champions League before are now competing (Leicester), and traditional clubs are bowing out (AC Milan, Arsenal, us to a certain extent), meaning we're at the start of (I believe) a wider change of other clubs coming to the table. Leicester are a great example, they finished 5th last year, and looks odds on to finish 3rd this year, meaning they'll be in another CL campaign. Who knows, maybe they'll be breaking that big 6 barrier in the CL and competing in the top 4 / CL year in year out.
So, my question is, what is actually wrong with the current format of the Champions League? Does anyone have a problem with it how it currently is?
But here's the thing - what's wrong with the current format of the Champions League?
I hear one of the drivers for the change in CL (according to UEFA) was the 'dead rubber' games in the group stages, which is just nonsense. Only this season, us, PSG, RB Leipzig, Real Madrid, Inter, Gladbach, and Shakhtar still had something to play for going into GW 5 and 6. Every few years, there's a story of a club going further than expected. Lyon and RB Leipzig last year, Ajax when they were seconds away from getting into the CL final a few seasons ago. Every year you get a story of an unfashionable club dumping out a 'big team' in the CL. Lyon and Porto have dumped Juve out, we exited the competition due to Sevilla in 2016, Ajax got rid of Real Madrid.
If the other driver is for more match ups between the 'big team of Europe', then why would you want this year in year out? Part of the reason these Champion League nights are held in such high esteem is that every so often you get games between the best of the best before the final and it means so much more defeating them on the way to the final. Think of us vs PSG in 2019, Liverpool vs Barca the same year. Even PSG vs Bayern this year was an excellent two legged tie. These matches are memorable because we don't play them each year. That's what makes it special.
Lastly, a few people have mentioned the lack of competition in the CL, and I get that. Generally, from the last 8 onwards, you get the same teams. From the 00/01 season to 09/10, we had 8 different winners (which is great). From the 10/11 season to 19/20, we only had 5 (not so great). But the other side of that is, clubs that haven't competed in the Champions League before are now competing (Leicester), and traditional clubs are bowing out (AC Milan, Arsenal, us to a certain extent), meaning we're at the start of (I believe) a wider change of other clubs coming to the table. Leicester are a great example, they finished 5th last year, and looks odds on to finish 3rd this year, meaning they'll be in another CL campaign. Who knows, maybe they'll be breaking that big 6 barrier in the CL and competing in the top 4 / CL year in year out.
So, my question is, what is actually wrong with the current format of the Champions League? Does anyone have a problem with it how it currently is?