European Cup v Champions League

For me the European Cup was a better competion. Knock out football played by teams who had won their respective leagues. The Champions League is a money making device made up of many also rans so you only get the quality at the end of the competition.

Discuss.

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Yep it should be a competition between all the champions around Europe, but money made it what it is today!

I feel that the champions league greed when it comes to money is the only reason the old UEFA Cup has been devalued as much as it has been.

Then the old cup winners cup went, which was ALL the cup winners in EUROPE!

I liked the old set up, it was better for football imho!

That’s that sorted then :laughing:

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Yes it seems other do not have an opinion, so either we are right, or others are so young they do not have a clue what we are on about.

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As much as us oldies would like to, you can’t turn back time. The only way it is likely to change is to exclude more of the smaller nations and enlarge the participation of the countries with the greater population.

If you are of a certain age you do remember when it was about Champions.

To call it the Champions’ League and include teams that finished 4th is clearly a joke and is purely about selling cars, fizzy pop and banking services to the easily-led via TV ads.

I think BT may have overestimated the general interest for the competition.

I’m not sure that Joe Public can be arsed to watch Milan v Galatasaray on a Tuesday night - or am I wrong and out of touch with mainstream culture?

(I’m very happy being out of touch with mainstream culture, it’s a Bake Off and Strictly-free zone where tabloids are never seen, you don’t listen to Olly Murs and you can’t name people out of Hollyoaks)

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I think you are right about Joe Public. I am sure there is more interest in home games simply because we are closer to the people who support the other teams. I like to check English results and match reports but cant be arsed with Milan v Galatasary. In fact up to last season I cant even remember when I last watched the Champions League Final. I watched it last season because the Missus was out and there was nothing else on TV I wanted to watch. Perhaps it is a “younger” persons thing - but I prefered the old European Cup - Cup Winners Cup thing.

The “Chumpions League” has had the effect of thingamewhatting the national leagues, now there is no desire to finish 1st. The only overarching concern is to finish in the Chumpions League spots.

Players move to clubs to play Chumpions league football for 6 games! Maybe 13 if they make it all the way to the final. In those 6 games they don’t always get to play the best teams too because of the seeding structure to ensure that the “best” teams get to the last 16.

Fair enough have more teams in the competition but make it a straight knock out and no seeding sort of like the old European Cup used to be…

Stupid bloody naming, really.

The thing we have now should be called the European Cup.

The thing we had then should have been called the Champions League.

My view is that we should have one huge competition, which incorporates all the teams in the Europa League and current CL. Call it the European Cup.

Good idea, but the top teams would not want to share the money with so many teams.

From a football point of view it would give ‘lesser’ teams even less opportunity of winning a European trophy, which is why the format as it is works for a team like us.

It is a bit like the FA/League cup and the JPT set up, but for Europe.

But if they got rid of the idea of seeding and made it an open draw?

Can you imagine Man City v Real Madrid and Barcelona v Chelsea in the first round?

No, you’re right, the bigger clubs would never go for it…

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That’s was a realisation as you were writing, if I ever saw one! :wink: