Champions League
- Thread starter El Flaco
- Start date
BarcelonaBiondi
Member
Oooooh. A shiny new topic. Thanks, [MENTION=20286]El Flaco[/MENTION].
Hopefully this one will end with joy.
Ditto kiddo. End with joy for us in Madrid. Literally.
LeeRomeno
Active member
I predict us winning treble as it happened both times after Messi did not win WC previous summer. He will be hungry and motivated especially in CL.
Think we have now have critical mass of new top talented players, who are yet to win the competition to compensate for those who have "won it all" to keep us fresh until end. Effect and desire we will get from Coutinho/Dembele/Malcom/Vidal/Semedo/Arthur/Umtiti will surpass the passiveness of Busi/Pique/Suarez/Alba/Messi in final stages.
Think we have now have critical mass of new top talented players, who are yet to win the competition to compensate for those who have "won it all" to keep us fresh until end. Effect and desire we will get from Coutinho/Dembele/Malcom/Vidal/Semedo/Arthur/Umtiti will surpass the passiveness of Busi/Pique/Suarez/Alba/Messi in final stages.
El Gato
Villarato!
It's a picture of complete sadness to see a champion of Netherlands knocked down to qualifying berths... I hate the debate of Champions League not being for the actual champions, because it's a flawed argument, but this top4 from big 4 leagues is fucking bullshit TBH. They need to reformat this, especially when they introduce VAR in European competitions.
RMU ReBorn
New member
Then what should be the criteria for qualification ?
El Gato
Villarato!
A balanced algorithm that doesn't blatantly favour the leagues of countries with most super-teams? Do not know what was wrong with England, Spain, Italy and Germany having 3 guaranteed spots + 1 qualifier. Why force a league that keeps producing esteemed talent to have to fight for their own spot? There has to be some sanity here. "Grass is greener in England (et al)" approach will only lead to the formation of a Super League. I don't see how it is fair to pretty much relegate former European mainstays to the role of teams that produce talent for the Super League level. We all know things are the way they are because England got good through combination of investment luck and good marketing. Ain't no way somebody will come and inject money into a team like Ajax who pioneered youth development. With this format none of the developing nations will be able to even sniff relative success and getting to 1/8s or 1/4s.
soul24rage
Senior Member
[youtube]AplNjQmdMzY[/youtube]
I agree with every point this video made and I hope EV is thinking of these points.
I agree with every point this video made and I hope EV is thinking of these points.
RMU ReBorn
New member
I get your point, but popularity is also a factor . Ajax vs some not so popular club in a Cl tie won't break TRP rating charts, ticket sales etc . CL being Uefa's showpiece event they need big guns from popular league facing each other over Ajax or some other clubs that are breeding ground for youth
messi2140
6racies Xavi
PSV won the eredivisie , Ajax came second.
El Gato
Villarato!
I know. Hence the original post.
BarcelonaBiondi
Member
Agreed that we may very well win the Treble (or the European Double, at the very least). Every time we've won the Champions League we've always won the league title too.
Only one of the Trebles (isn't it amazing that we're even able to say this in the plural? Madrid hasn't ever come anywhere near a whiff of one) was after a World Cup (the 2015). The first one was in 2009.
That Barcelona 2009 team, incidentally, played the Most Beautiful Football ANYONE had ever seen. Of this there can be no doubt.
Madrid was able to win successive Champions Leagues because they PRIORITIZED the competition, not being able to compete with us domestically. That was the only thing they could do to salvage their campaign last season and years prior.
Just going by head-to-head results domestically in El Clasico, we would have overwhelmed Madrid in the Champions League had we faced each other. Even in a one-off game. The gulf in actual quality between us and our eternal rivals is vast.
I'm not saying that winning the Champions League in 2018-2019 is a forgone conclusion but you can be sure that Messi and Barca will be extra motivated to win it this season.
Now everyone and Madristas will see just what it's like when we prioritize a particular competition. The only team that can beat us is ourselves. A cliche but it's true.
"We cannot go one more year without winning the Champions League".
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Aryagorn
Improvin' Perfection!!
You would have won only only 2 of the last 4 CL - Always easy to suggest changes when you are on the other side of the river
BarcelonaBiondi
Member
Hope we get to include the 2018-2019 side in this debate!
Then and Now: Which treble-winning Barcelona team was better?
An in-depth examination of the two (to date) Treble winning sides of 2009 and 2015.
Incidentally Eto'o was the first and to date only player to win two Trebles in a row, 2009 with us and the next year with Internazionale.
https://www.squawka.com/en/news/which-barcelona-treble-winning-side-was-the-greatest/393599#z4gqmBE8EZDXvED4.99
Then and Now: Which treble-winning Barcelona team was better?
An in-depth examination of the two (to date) Treble winning sides of 2009 and 2015.
Incidentally Eto'o was the first and to date only player to win two Trebles in a row, 2009 with us and the next year with Internazionale.
https://www.squawka.com/en/news/which-barcelona-treble-winning-side-was-the-greatest/393599#z4gqmBE8EZDXvED4.99
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