UEFA Champions League 2016/17

[GoN_]

The best goalscorer in six champions leagues is actually useless. 

But I really loved the nickname. It's really impressive to be butthurt after over 10 years.

[Rich]

2 minutes ago, GoN_ said:

The best goalscorer in six champions leagues is actually useless. 

But I really loved the nickname. It's really impressive to be butthurt after over 10 years.

I mean, it's football fans, football fans are butthurt over things that happened before they were born

[Cymbols]

Don't think anyone called him useless. It is an interesting thing to theorise though. Would the combined minutes of Morata/Asensio/Vasquez in place of Ronaldo provide the same levels of success? Really hard to say. 

[Arjen Robben]

I don't actually understand any part of that post.

Who called him useless? Who's meant to be "butthurt"? What nickname? 

[Cymbols]

Matt did call him winkycuntface tbf 

[METALMAN]

The Champions League is boring. Sure, Real Madrid are a good team, but I don't think them winning 3 out of 4 is something for the rest of us to celebrate. It's a sign of a tournament that is urgently in need of reform.

[DavidMarrio]

Don't worry lads. Two games to get through in August and we are back!!! 

 

[Baddar]

11 hours ago, metalman said:

The Champions League is boring. Sure, Real Madrid are a good team, but I don't think them winning 3 out of 4 is something for the rest of us to celebrate. It's a sign of a tournament that is urgently in need of reform.

Stop Real playing in it?

Reform it how you want, if they're the best team and they win the competition, so be it. It's run with this kind of format for years now and despite all the great teams, it's taken til now for one to retain the trophy.

[METALMAN]

Yeah, while it might have a taken a team this long to retain it, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have been semi-finalists more often than not over the past few years. That's not interesting. "Team with most money and highest paid players wins tournament AGAIN" is not a fun story.

Edited June 4, 2017 by metalman

[DavidMarrio]

There was that period in which the English teams dominated. There were English finalists in 05/06/07/08/09/11/12

One of those had Man Utd vs Chelsea as well (08?) 

I think it just depends on timing with certain teams. I mean a lot of those years I've listed Madrid were doing crap in Europe by their standards, I remember us absolutely tonking them at Anfield yet few years ago I remmeber when they basically strolled in to Anfield, pulled our pants down and was like is this it? 

[Liam]

17 minutes ago, metalman said:

Yeah, while it might have a taken a team this long to retain it, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have been semi-finalists more often than not over the past few years. That's not interesting. "Team with most money and highest paid players wins tournament AGAIN" is not a fun story.

How do you change it then? That's pretty much the way it is for most tournaments.

[METALMAN]

I dunno.

I mean, it's great that you guys enjoy it - different strokes for different folks and that. But I just think a competition where only five or six teams from two or three countries have a realistic chance of winning isn't very exciting. I feel like a competition should require more teams who are actually competitive. Particularly considering that in the not so distant past we had teams from the former Yugoslavia, Romania and Scotland getting winning or getting to the latter stages.

I just feel the sport has become so stale and needs some form of reform. The dominance of Bayern and Juventus in a domestic context isn't exciting for me. Spain and France aren't much better. England is a little bit better in that there are five or six teams with a realistic chance of winning, but there are so many dreadful teams below that.

But yeah, I don't know how I'd actually reform it. Maybe make regional leagues from some of the smaller countries to give them a higher standard of opposition - maybe a merger of Scotland/Belgium/Netherlands or something. A bit like that league in rugby union with teams from Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Italy.

[Baddar]

I know Metalman has had this kind of feeling towards other major football tournaments in the past, but aside from putting these teams on a handicap or stopping them playing altogether (both stupid) I don't see what can be done.

In the last 10 years, there have been 6 different winners of the tournament from four countries. That's not bad, really, considering the so called dominance of certain teams.

[METALMAN]

tbf, it doesn't really bother me. I don't really follow football except for international tournaments (though I know what's going on because I listen to the Guardian football podcast when I'm walking to work). And as a casual follower, hearing that the Champions League final features Real Madrid yet again doesn't really entice me to watch. (Though I did watch it because I didn't have anything better to do :/) 

[MDK]

If it was up to me it would be a straight knockout tournament with only the 55 winners of each UEFA associated leagues. Maybe 9 wildcard entries (previous winner, maybe a guest entrant from AFC) to make it a 64 team knockout format. It would make less money but it would be fun.

[Fudge]

Six winners from four countries in ten years isn't bad, but four English teams qualifying straight for the group stage next year while the champions of Romania, Greece, Croatia etc. (hardly fucking San Marino) have to go through one or two qualifying rounds is what's wrong with the Champions League.

[Gazz]

Kilmarnock gets a bye to the final and a 4-0 head start every season.