Are they still cwying because the ref didn't give Mane a penalty after the defender tried to bring him down on his way to scoring the final goal
Pre Match - Villareal (a) - Tues 20:00
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Teams like Villareal, Atalanta etc is also why I’m completely opposed to any “super-league” type arrangement, where clubs qualify based on reputation, money and fanbase rather than results. Football so far managed to keep a pretty healthy eco-system despite all the monetary imbalances because those smaller teams keep the big ones honest - remove that and the whole thing will stink.
Nah, the 'product' will survive because there's demand.
They killed the all knock out European Cup. They let runners-up play in it. They killed the Cup Winners Cup. They killed the old UEFA Cup. And the list goes on.
All this shit and still there's a record high on TV revenue, tickets are rare and unaffordable for many, shirt sales go through the roof.
There's no room for romantics.
I think it’s different though - I don’t remember the old pre-Champions League days, but I think I actually prefer the format with 3-4 teams from each country qualifying and no Cup Winners’ Cup, which was kind of a weird competition to begin with. Neither Villarreal or Atalanta or the like would have qualified for the old format Champions Cup unless they actually became champions in their country, which is almost impossible for little guys to pull off. CL in the current format is a hybrid league and cup competition and it’s pretty great - I wish they just left it alone as it is.
See? You don't remember it and so you don't miss it. The plan works nicely.
The commentators kept going on about it being the biggest game Villareal have ever played (with the whole small town / small club angle) but if I'm not mistaken they've already played in a CL semi-final against Arsenal. That was when they were managed by Pelligrini and had Riquelme who was great.
Hmm, Arsenal though. I guess they weren't that wrong.
Hmm, Arsenal though. I guess they weren't that wrong.
It's mad for a team of that size, who's first game in a European competition was only 20 years ago, have made 2 semi finals
Check out a place called Bercy in the East of Paris. Not been for a few years but there weee hotels for all budgets and loads of restaurants / bars, plus it’s in the end of the Meteor metro line which gets you into the centre in about 15 minutes.
I recall it was the host, Jake Humphrey that said it and he is a certifiable twat, as a matter of course.
Hard not to love him.
Without doubt. Thaigo was worse and was forcing every pass in the first half when there was no need. Poor old Jota ended up being the fall guy for it.
Glad for Naby he didn’t get taken off and in a way had his redemption from last year because if he had been taken off, you wonder the harm it can do to their confidence for his career. He was excellent in the second half and showed composure and same with Konate, who made some vital interceptions.
Carragher's just a shit version of Phil Thompson of Soccer Saturday these days, so forced, cringe and faked for show.
I like carra and Thompsons forced cringe. It's fun.
It's still a million miles away from when you could draw Red Star Belgrade or Rapid Vienna. The champions league destroyed those country's football leagues.
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Red Bull destroyed Austria's football league.
I'd look at the RER for connections - quicker from suburbs to center. Metro is the milky route, stops everywhere.
Meteor is an express line - only takes in major connection stops.
From its inception Austria Wien (2nd most successful Austrian club) have made the ¼ finals once (84-85) and the semis once (78-79) usually going out in the group stages. In fact 2004/5 was probably their 3rd best showing ever (group).
SK Rapid Wien (most successful) were at their peak in the 60s to 80s (3 x ¼ and 1 x semi) however their demise in Austria (only won the league twice after 1995) meant they rarely qualified thereafter.
In contrast RB Salzburg have won the Austria league 13 times out of the past 16 years (RW once, AW once and Sturm Graz once) so no surprise we see hardly anything of Rapid or AW ! Salzburg have made the group stages three times in their history.
As for Red Star it was the various Balkan wars of independence from Serbia (1991 - 2001) that fucked them up with massive human and economic cost. To emphasise the effects of those wars on the club (and breakup of their league), they won the Euro Cup in 1991 but since then they have only made the group stages twice.
Partizan win the Serbian Championship almost as often as RSB however their heyday was in the 60's (made one final) and the group stages only once since 1966.
I think it suffice to say that numerous external influences, and the influx into the game of huge TV & sponsorship money into the major leagues, have had a major effect on these teams' demise - rather than CL money alone.
Sorry for being so nerdy - your post peaked my interest!
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You can still play those teams in the Champions League though. Obvious point, but we would not be in this year's competition under the old rules and the likes of Red Star would be – that would have been a huge downgrade.
And yeah, as @Frogfish wrote, CL was not the only and probably not even the biggest factor for the decline of the smaller leagues. I do feel sorry for the likes of Ajax who have such storied football culture, but cannot retain good players because their league cannot compete financially; wish there was a solution.
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