Experience/ history really seems to count for a lot in the champions league, especially in the late stages. Both Arsenal and City are the better sides really but when you come up against those giants of European football they just seem to have something extra which makes it so difficult to beat them
I'm delighted the English clubs have failed.....a lesson is why it's important to stop killing competition in our league. It's been diluting.
Bayern (2nd) and Dortmund (6th) in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen should finish the job v West Ham tonight. Atalanta 6th in Serie A destroyed Liverpool in the first leg in the Europa. Villa could potentially go tonight. Ends the myth that the PL is the best in the world. Richest yes, but it's a mickey mouse competitiom dominated by Man City.
Financial rules have halted the Premier leagues growth. This is the thing its not just about the big 6 and grass roots it's also about the ****house clubs in Europe aswel not being priced out by clubs like ours.
Another spin on it aswell is that our league is frantic and direct. But we don’t have teams allowed to do and master the dark arts of winning games. And styles of play affect it also. Man City and Arsenal play tappy passes which bores the hell out of me. But against world class sides who can cope with it just allow it to happen. Meaning like last night although city had about 75 shots they didn’t really trouble the goalkeeper.
I said at the time, that was a fixed draw by UEFA designed to try and damage PL coefficient, and so it's turned out. Germany gets the extra place next year. But that being said, let's not forget Bayern won the league something like 11 times in a row and Leverkusen were assembled for about the same price as Antony, so let's not pretend it's about limitless spending or that the PL is more Mickey Mouse just because City bought their success. I actually think a side like Newcastle at our best would trouble sides in Europe. Clearly we're in need of better players and fitness coaches not born in Sunderland.
Look at what we did to PSG. NUFC don't play like a European side. We play classic "English" football. At our best we play high press, lighting quick attacking football. Very few sides can cope with it.
I don't get the logic. How can the draw be fixed to achieve that? It only works if the other teams are better than ours - in which case, you don't need to fix the draw any way. What was to stop Man City or Arsenal going through, if they were better than the other teams? Bottom line is, they got to the quarter finals and were beaten. End of. I don't see how it's a conspiracy.
In CL it would work on some teams but not others. There might be games like the PSG result at home, but equally games where we hardly touch the ball and get battered. On average, I think we'd lose. I don't think 'English plodding' football will win the CL.
The draws are all rigged to a degree .. just another thing the ****house clubs got in there.. all this crap about seeded teams. A draw should a draw simple as that.
Agree with that mate. It's rigged for all the big clubs to benefit. I just don't see how it's an anti-English conspiracy.
They have made a system that suits top draw in each country. They spent their way into a position of strength and have colluded to pull up the draw bridge for anyone wanting to do what they've done. They now peddle the sporting merit fallacy. It's bought success.
Agree I think if we could have kept a few more key players fit through that period we would have gone through. We gave them all a game. I'll be supporting Bayern now. Let Kane get a pot to go with all those goals.