24 Jul 2018 10:22:31
Oh for the good old days when the European cup (CL) was all about the champions of the country battling it out against Europe's finest. No seedings just like when we exited at the first round in 68.

Potentially having to play four qualifiers is a nonsense. Turkeys don't vote for Christmas fair doos, pardon the pun, not when there is a £25 million carrot dangling before you but see us wee diddy teams like Ajax PSV Anderlecht Celtic etc. we should be plotting against UEFA to change the current format.

Ok, UEFA want the best product on show for the money they plough in and make but where's the romance, the underdogs chance? . The above mentioned teams are now content to accept the dollars in return for being the whipping boys (if we are being honest) and has to change. Sadly money dictates and the greed of the 'big four nations is strangling football all the way down to youth level.

You can probably name at least 12 of this year's last 16 right now. It's becoming a bore and you'll never see the likes of a Porto v Monaco final again. Liverpool. Yes Liverpool almost appeared to be gatecrashers at last year's final that's how bad it's become. Rosenberg AEK and ourselves should be right in there. In reality that'll never happen again.

Manchester city for example have nowhere near the same pedigree as some of the teams trying to qualify and are only cosidered a ' big gun' because of the over hyped EPL and even allowing for there billions have done nothing in Europe for years. Cut to the chase UEFA and just change the name of the CL clique to something more appropriate like ' we are loaded the rest can piss off league or the masons.

1.) 24 Jul 2018
24 Jul 2018 11:05:08
Man City won the league so have as much right to go straight in as we do surely.

2.) 24 Jul 2018
24 Jul 2018 11:18:41
Think Ed 007 has been saying as much for a while and you are both absolutely spot-on. The set-up (and it is a set-up) is geared so that rich clubs stay obscenely rich and the rest of us fight for scraps.
The European governing body should be totally ashamed for letting this elitist crap to flourish instead of evenly representing the member clubs they are supposed to represent and fight for.
Co-efficients, fixed draws, multiple qualifiers and regional boundaries has made the competition extremely unbalanced, unfair and frankly boring and the influence and corruption of huge TV revenue has contributed - if not caused the flag-ship trophy of Europe to become as predictable as my next crap.

3.) 24 Jul 2018
24 Jul 2018 12:04:13
Correct kev bhoy was talking more about recent seasons.

4.) 24 Jul 2018
24 Jul 2018 12:47:31
Even the massive clubs wouldn't be at the elite level if they didn't spend outrageous amounts of money; Barca, Real, Bayern etc. so I don't think it's really fair to pick on teams like City just because they have struck lucky and been backed by ambitious owners. It's not great to see them hovering up all the best youngsters but if the biggest clubs in Europe are allowed to do it then why not City? Because they weren't successful in Europe during a previous era? We moan about the CL status quo but then still moan when somebody tries to challenge it. Every supporter would love it to happen to their club and, if it did, they'd soon soften their stance on how mega rich clubs are ruining the game.

5.) 24 Jul 2018
24 Jul 2018 16:50:25
The idea of teams finishing in top positions of top European Leagues playing in Champions League isn't completely wrong . But the balance needs to be changed . I think those finishing 2nd,3rd and 4th in the major leagues should have to qualifying rounds to bring their total down to something like 4/ 5 . These qualifiers should be seeded 3 or 4th . That would mean an easier path for many Champions of Countries.

6.) 24 Jul 2018
24 Jul 2018 19:46:24
I agree Chris. If it was only the champions of each country you could argue that it would be even easier to predict than it is now as lots of the teams wouldn’t be as strong.

7.) 25 Jul 2018
25 Jul 2018 11:14:42
The CL is totally wrong IMHO, this year we had games on WHILE the world cup was going on how can that be allowed to happen.
Someone somewhere has got to take Uefa to court on this, so what do they do if more European countries break up like Yugoslavia, Soviet Union etc.
Its not beyond the realms of possibility that there could be qualifiers in June if perhaps Spain broke up for eg as the numbers of European countries has risen dramatically last 20 odd years.

I can see someone going to court in some sport in the future (similar to Bosman) over seedings aswell as its clearly favouritism.

Can u imagine running a race where the other guy gets a head start cos he from another country tho he never raced before cos that's what happens in CL.