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ECHO Comment: "Fears of Witch-hunt Against Liverpool FC" part 2

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havrey0123 said:
But that's the beauty of it, it's not scripted that the team with the best squad always wins it. Anyone has a chance if they play it right tactically

You can pretty much predict who the top 6 in the prem will be next season, you can't predict who will be in the semis of the cl next season.

Spurs grouped with Barca and inter and got through, you can't predict it.
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Remember that time Brighton scored and Liverpool fans got excited?
 
CouchPotato said:
1. Being the domestic champion doesnt mean anything if you are tactically naive in Europe. Lowly Ajax handled Madrid and Juventus (the so called Giants of European football) before throwing the fateful second half in their spurs game. Madrid and Juventus were tactically naive. Has got nothing to do with their domestic form.
2. Define "4 best teams" please. Because the way I see it, there are no fixed 4 best teams. There are only 4 best teams every season. And they play in the semi finals. Also, out the top 4 teams this season, the two teams that bowed out, were their respective league champions. Which brings me back to point #1.
3. City and PSG beating any teams in a neutral venue is a moot point. Because it is not being played in a neutral venue. Hypothetical scenario and all that.

I normally agree with you. This isnt one of them. Just my 2 cents mate.
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Point 3 is literally my point about the comp needing a refresh though. Home advantage for some teams is too big. Liverpool are looking at another final despite being abysmal away from home in Europe throughout the last 3 campaigns.

In any competition you want to see top teams playing each other at the business end. No one I. Europe would have Europe’s 4 best teams without City in it. Liverpool and Spurs both lost numerous games in the group stages and the knockout stages but a team potentially unbeaten in the tournament can go out on away goals after drawing a tie whilst a team that has lost up to 6 games and hasn’t won away from home at all can get to the final. It’s bizarre and doesn’t occur in any other competition.

Being domestic champions shows that over 38 games against all opponents home and away in different conditions you have prevailed as the best. Spurs can lose their last x number of games in the league, focus solely on the tie with City, still be outplayed tactically but can scrape past them on away goals. That wasn’t tactical naivety by City. They suffered by having to rotate for the first leg at Spurs due to having so many key games. We’ve seen Real do the same recently, sacking off their league games in order to raise their game for one off fixtures in the CL. Liverpool did the same last season. If Kompany hadn’t of scored v Leicester and Liverpool had the league in their hands I doubt very much they would have gone all out for that 4-0 win instead potentially resting players for their must win game against Wolves to be champions.

No one is saying that the CL isn’t a big trophy but it’s no longer delivering the best team in Europe as the winner. In fact the teams regarded as the best on the continent are struggling to make the latter stages even now.
 

havrey0123 said:
You serious.
The 2 semi finals were two of the most watched games of the season, literally couldn't predict what was going to happen.
City spurs another one, psg united another, juve coming from 2-0 down

The interest in the cl couldn't be higher, the increased prize money shows that.
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They weren’t the most watched as the viewing figures on pay to view TV are now terrible. I think most FA cup ties received more than the CL semi finals in terms of an English audience.

No one is denying that the CL isn’t entertaining but like anything the European elite will not allow a format that does not deliver the major European powers to the top on a regular basis to persist for long. The CL was built on prestigious games between Europe’s top teams not scrappy under dog stories. They’ve entertained a few like Mourinho’s Porto or your run in 05 but if they continue to see Porto Roma Spurs Ajax Liverpool Sevilla proliferating in the latter stages of the competition whilst Juventus Bayern Barca PSG United are being knocked out early doors regularly then change will be inevitable.
 

havrey0123 said:
But that's the beauty of it, it's not scripted that the team with the best squad always wins it. Anyone has a chance if they play it right tactically

You can pretty much predict who the top 6 in the prem will be next season, you can't predict who will be in the semis of the cl next season.

Spurs grouped with Barca and inter and got through, you can't predict it.
Click to expand...

I don’t disputed that hence why I say it’s a glorified FA cup.
 
Saint Domingo said:
Point 3 is literally my point about the comp needing a refresh though. Home advantage for some teams is too big. Liverpool are looking at another final despite being abysmal away from home in Europe throughout the last 3 campaigns.

In any competition you want to see top teams playing each other at the business end. No one I. Europe would have Europe’s 4 best teams without City in it. Liverpool and Spurs both lost numerous games in the group stages and the knockout stages but a team potentially unbeaten in the tournament can go out on away goals after drawing a tie whilst a team that has lost up to 6 games and hasn’t won away from home at all can get to the final. It’s bizarre and doesn’t occur in any other competition.

Being domestic champions shows that over 38 games against all opponents home and away in different conditions you have prevailed as the best. Spurs can lose their last x number of games in the league, focus solely on the tie with City, still be outplayed tactically but can scrape past them on away goals. That wasn’t tactical naivety by City. They suffered by having to rotate for the first leg at Spurs due to having so many key games. We’ve seen Real do the same recently, sacking off their league games in order to raise their game for one off fixtures in the CL. Liverpool did the same last season. If Kompany hadn’t of scored v Leicester and Liverpool had the league in their hands I doubt very much they would have gone all out for that 4-0 win instead potentially resting players for their must win game against Wolves to be champions.

No one is saying that the CL isn’t a big trophy but it’s no longer delivering the best team in Europe as the winner. In fact the teams regarded as the best on the continent are struggling to make the latter stages even now.
Click to expand...
If the cl was set out as you want it Barca would win it every year with ease and it would be a bore fest.
 
havrey0123 said:
If the cl was set out as you want it Barca would win it every year with ease and it would be a bore fest.
Click to expand...

Not really, the best sides in Europe always used to find their way to the finals of this tournament in the early days of the CL after it changed from the European cup but what we’re seeing now is that the demands of modern football with the fixtures and the standard required to win leagues is too much to balance all comps now. So we’re seeing a lot of teams who can give up the league campaign going far in the CL. Doesn’t seem a fitting way for me to crown champions of Europe.
 

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