Why are people so obsessed with the Champions League?

[Xtroverto]

Because it's a competition where the best European club teams participate in.

Why do NTs care about Euros and Copa Americas when there is a World Cup that is by far the most important trophy and more difficult to win?

Just because you don't care about CLs doesn't mean the club, other fans and players themselves don't.

This is one of the main issues I have with european cup competitions and I guess I always have had. How can you actually claim that the teams that participate really are the best? Especially considering most of the top quality players are concentrated to Spain and England and and to a lesser degree in Italy and Germany? Because at the end of the day, it comes down to claiming you are European Champions by beating a handful of teams that may or may not be the best to measure against.

I would argue that the bottom half of La liga and Premier League is much higher quality than even the best teams from outside of the big 5 with maybe the exception of Portugal, this I would say has been true for atlest the last 20 years. So many times have I seen teams that perform mediocre in the domestic league only to have 2-3 good results in the ChL that it really takes the whole point of the excercise out of the equation, Leicester reaching quarter finals despite struggling to even remain in the Premier League just makes a mockery of the whole thing really.

You just can't claim that it is one of the best european teams when it is struggling to even qualify for european football the upcoming season in their domestic league. It becomes random, in fact the Champinos league and the UEFA Cup is full of random nonsens that doesn't tell you either A or B.

 

[fergus90]

Honestly I just see it as an added luxury to win. In England the premier league is really the competition people want to win the most, but I guess different countries focus on certain competitions more.

Cup competitions can be strange, you can be on form all group stage and knockouts(been a while since that's happened to us) say until the SF and one bad game you're out.

It's very difficult to win because of the competition so that does bring the extra joy with it, but there are also a lot of dead rubber games in the group stage too.

Really there's only been a few times in history where a team has really dominated it for years. Our real chance was 08-12 obviously, where really we should of won 4 in a row.

It seems that with the modern football fan, one bad game you're finished or over rated. Not winning the champions league then you need a squad overhaul and a new manager. Although I admit that this years elimination was particularly humiliating.

Before the Messi and Ronaldo era, 20 - 25 league goals a season consistently was considered world class. I started following Barca in 1997, really Villa is my main team but I consider myself a big fan of Barca too, and right now we are being spoilt so much where a domestic league and cup double, 2 in 3 seasons for that matter is considered a failure.

Barca has hit many hard times, especially 99-04 and when inevitably a spell without trophies comes around again, fans will realise just how good we've had it.

I also think that if any other team than Madrid had won the last couple years, there wouldn't be so much focus on it being the only important trophy.

 

[Xtroverto]

Liverpool Utterly shite all year ? SAF didn't take the cl seriously in the beginning, i have read some rubbish and yours is up there with the best

Without Salah Liverpool would have been a mid table team this season, he has saved them so many times it's not even funny anymore, without Salah Klopp would have been fired by chrismas, they have been absolutely horrible and I totally expect them to crash and burn when Salah stop delivering or move on to greener pastures.

 

[LeeRomeno]

I just don’t buy into the belief held by some that a league is more important than a cup. Should there be a league of the nations version thingy for the whole world I still think the WC trumps it in terms of importance and prestige.

Yes I meant the UCL, not the CWC since the best clubs in the world are all in Europe. The CWC is truly a minor competition.

If WC would be something that is hosted rarely then yes it would still have prestige and importance? Leagues are generally held less important in countries, where league winner is more or less the same team every year. Like Germany and France i would assume most of Bayern/PSG fans would consider CL being more important trophy. In Premier though, league is by far the most important thing. La Liga is somewhere in middle, it is still competitive, but i guess winning it 7 years out of 10 has devaluated it, it should not.
As for CWC, tell that to 3 Brazil clubs who have actually won that competition! So Europe > World? Alot of sense there.

 

[FC B]

Yes it is hyped up to heavens, more than it should be. But it is still a very important competition. Good or bad, it's the only way you can make a comparison between teams from different leagues. I like the CL, always intense matches, but the format needs work, as well as the draws rules which are stupid.

Exactly. Before this shit format at least it was a preset path set in order to reach the final now there is just this shit where they draw after each KO phase probably for more control of the competition.

I'd like to see a league format in the final stage of CL, quite the opposite of the mess it is atm.

 

[serghei]

CWC is more like a marketing stunt. I don't think it's valuable at all. Rarely even followed it even with Barca.

 

[FC B]

]But the CL is not meant to give a fair representation of who the best team is.[/B] That's not the aim here. On the contrary. A lot of effort is being put in to make sure that there are a lot of surprises that keep it interesting.

Go convince los blancos of that and you'd be a nobel prize candidate, at least!

 

[Luftstalag14]

If WC would be something that is hosted rarely then yes it would still have prestige and importance? Leagues are generally held less important in countries, where league winner is more or less the same team every year. Like Germany and France i would assume most of Bayern/PSG fans would consider CL being more important trophy. In Premier though, league is by far the most important thing. La Liga is somewhere in middle, it is still competitive, but i guess winning it 7 years out of 10 has devaluated it, it should not.
As for CWC, tell that to 3 Brazil clubs who have actually won that competition! So Europe > World? Alot of sense there.

Yes, a lot of sense. You judge the status and rankings of the clubs based on the result of one of two games that most clubs did not attach great importance to? OK, be my guest.

When it comes to club football, Europe > the rest of the world. It is a fact. Yes I will tell that to the Corinthians, São Paulo and Internacional, the best club teams are in Europe. No problem with that statement whatsoever. Where else would they be? Brazil? If so, why did multiple Braazilian stars spend their peak years playing in Europe?

Look, if you are content with us not winning the CL because somehow you believe it is not as important as the league, so be it. There are many of us who disagree.

 

[serghei]

CL and League are the same in terms of importance. The idea that a club focuses on one and throws away the other because it's not as important is rubbish. Clubs do better in one than in other because their have deficiencies that affect their chances of winning one, or even both. Lack of consistency during the season kills your chances in the league. Lack of fitness and form at set dates kills you in CL. Very few teams manage to get right both aspects at the same time. Some teams do better in one format, some teams do better in other.

 

[Luftstalag14]

This is one of the main issues I have with european cup competitions and I guess I always have had. How can you actually claim that the teams that participate really are the best? Especially considering most of the top quality players are concentrated to Spain and England and and to a lesser degree in Italy and Germany? Because at the end of the day, it comes down to claiming you are European Champions by beating a handful of teams that may or may not be the best to measure against.

I would argue that the bottom half of La liga and Premier League is much higher quality than even the best teams from outside of the big 5 with maybe the exception of Portugal, this I would say has been true for atlest the last 20 years. So many times have I seen teams that perform mediocre in the domestic league only to have 2-3 good results in the ChL that it really takes the whole point of the excercise out of the equation, Leicester reaching quarter finals despite struggling to even remain in the Premier League just makes a mockery of the whole thing really.

You just can't claim that it is one of the best european teams when it is struggling to even qualify for european football the upcoming season in their domestic league. It becomes random, in fact the Champinos league and the UEFA Cup is full of random nonsens that doesn't tell you either A or B.

Am I the only one who sensed the irony here? You questioned whether those teams that qualified for the CL are the best, yet these teams qualified because they finished in top positions in their respective national league by being consistent (at least for that season), which you seemed to value. Again, yes there are many teams from weaker leagues in the CL but by the quarter-finals chances are the remaining teams are all from the top 5 European leagues. To win the CL you will have to beat those top teams from the top leagues. Can you argue against that?

Certainly it is very debatable whether the winner of the CL is considered the best club team in Europe (or the world for that matter), for example Chelsea in 2012, they were hardly the best team but they won. But still, clubs go after that sort of fame.

By the way, I wanted to point out the CL is also where the money is. Clubs are getting paid a lot by UEFA by just going into the semi-finals, let alone winning the trophy. It is more than chunk of change that clubs go after, in addition to the fame that the CL trophy brings.

 

[serghei]

Certainly it is very debatable whether the winner of the CL is considered the best club team in Europe (or the world for that matter), for example Chelsea in 2012, they were hardly the best team but they won. But still, clubs go after that sort of fame.

About half the winners in the last 15 years weren't referred to as the best team in the world. They 'just' won the Cup. But, also, it's very hard to be the best in Europe without a very good record in CL.

 

[Xtroverto]

Am I the only one who sensed the irony here? You questioned whether those teams that qualified for the CL are the best, yet these teams qualified because they finished in top positions in their respective national league by being consistent (at least for that season), which you seemed to value. Again, yes there are many teams from weaker leagues in the CL but by the quarter-finals chances are the remaining teams are all from the top 5 European leagues. To win the CL you will have to beat those top teams from the top leagues. Can you argue against that?

The point is, you have a team Leicester, that struggle to even remain in their domestic top league but still reach quarterfinals in the champions league, objectively speaking they were hardly a top 8 team in Europe, I would argue that they were not even a top 40 team in europe that season.

The year before that you have Wolfsburg reaching quarterfinals yet finishing 8th in Bundesliga. Again, objectively speaking they were not a top 8 team in Europe, probably not even a top 30 team. And the list goes on and on and on.

 

[Luftstalag14]

The point is, you have a team Leicester, that struggle to even remain in their domestic top league but still reach quarterfinals in the champions league, objectively speaking they were hardly a top 8 team in Europe, I would argue that they were not even a top 40 team in europe that season.

The year before that you have Wolfsburg reaching quarterfinals yet finishing 8th in Bundesliga. Again, objectively speaking they were not a top 8 team in Europe, probably not even a top 30 team. And the list goes on and on and on.

Sure, there is definitely the element of luck and surprise in the CL as in any tournament. World Cup has the so-called "dark horses" that shattered expectations (for example Iceland), it is the same concept.

 

[Neymessi]

You can't really make a superleague for CL where every big team plays one another. Knockouts is the only way possible. And while knockouts may sometimes make a lucky team win it is still not a lucky draw at all.

By this logic all NT trophies are useless. The fact that CL has the best european teams in them outweighs any luck associated with the knockout system for the toughness to win it.

And lets not make it out as if we were just unlucky for 3 seasons in the CL. Maybe to an extent against atletico but we were deserved losers against juventus and had we somehow gotten past roma, any of liverpool manc and RM would have defeated us later on.

 

[Icarium]

Because it is the one competition we have been consistently shit in last few years except one season. So winning it would be a great pleasure. More than double. I mean i do enjoy winning the double but crashing out in CL the way we did hurts.