Yes, the whole value, and the point, of the competition is negated by allowing these CL failures to enter it. However, UEFA won't change it as there's money to be made by doing so.
Take out the so called failures and instead of chelsea v benfica u have Basel v fenerbache. I know what I'd rather watch. Don't see u guys complaining about getting Champions league football despite no league titles in 50 years. Same issue.
It is. It's about uefa putting formats in place to generate most money and interest. Not Chelsea's fault and not the fault if the team who finishes forth that they get put into the CL with actual champions
?? I think what you are getting at is that you can qualify for the CL by failing to with the league. However, its still not the same as in essence the league is the qualifying campaign for both the CL and the EL. The CL is not a qualifying campaign for the EL.
True but what devalues it more, CL failures being in it or having very few decent sides in it at all. Debate able. Uefa cup is devalued purely due to too many teams allowed in the CL
maybe they should take the existing number of teams from the CL+EL and split them based on seedings. Then 2 identical comps play along side each other with a trophy for the winner of each. Then the winners of each play a final for the ultimate prize. Thats like American football right? With the AFC/NFC/Superbowl?
Basle and Fener (who were supposed to be banned from Europe this season for match-fixing...) were in the CL qualifying rounds, so they're drop-outs too.
Fair point and proves my point further. The EL (which many still remember as the old Uefa cup - a bloody good comp) would be even more derided then it it now if you took out all those C.L teams. I think overall the 2 comps aren't perfect but they give us a hell of a lot more games and entertainment then the old formats. It also means you don't get the likes of Madrid and Liverpool winning so many in such a short space of time due to lack of competition. No one has retained the C.L, more good sides enter it and overall makes winning ti even more special.
Whilst I agree with you about their being too many teams in the CL, the dropdown totally kills the competition. Playing a ton of games to get through to the latter stages, only to meet a financially boosted opponent who should already be out of Europe? You can see why a lot of teams don't see the point in bothering. When you consider that the EL itself actually has preliminary rounds, then it's clearly a ludicrous format.
Yup, congratulations to Chelsea. I hate the team and despise the owner, but I admire the new group of players.
I like that idea, and the powers that be should as well, since it offers the chance to double CL rights money w/out doing a thing (almost). It's a bit like the NFL, and a bit like what college football-and-I-use-that-term-loosely did a few years ago. They formed existing bowls into a national championship title game.
It's difficult to say who's responsible for Chelsea's achievements in the last 2 years as they've had 4 managers.
There's alway's one twat that likes to wum,bet last year he was calling it the europey cup,by the way dcfc idiot,who are the Spuds,because it's not us,we are the Spurs
