Other games (2024/25)

[Yorkie]

9 minutes ago, Kaizero said:

 

You say what you say implying I don’t  watch any football  I’ve watched Peruvian 3rd tier matches just to watch football when nothing else has been on at 3am, among other random matches, since I was a child.

 

I’d rather watch a Legia Warzaw vs. Red Star Belgrade EL qualifying fixture than than being forced to watch a Barcelona/Real Madrid vs. Inter/PSG/Bayern (or any other of the repetitive turgid clubs usually getting there) final - 10 out of 10 times. It’s the final result of FIFA & UEFA’s dream; turning football into a soulless money printing machine in competition format.

 

At the moment, for now at least, the EL and the EC feel like the anthesis of that.

 

I agree with you; I've always preferred this competition, but the problem is that - certainly on the basis of this season - it's being undermined by various things now. Most of all the Premier League's financial strength, but secondly because of the format changes. The CL dropouts entering never felt 'fair' but it gave the competition that necessary gravitas and ensured there were teams capable of dispatching PL opponents (see Sporting and Sevilla a couple season's back).

 

None of this takes away from Bodo's achievement in getting so far. 

[Pata]

12 minutes ago, CallumG6 said:

You could argue the recent competition format change for the EL and the EC have been an attempt to squeeze more money out of the European competitions, and have absolutely nothing to do with giving the lesser clubs a chance at a European cup.

 

 

 

In the case of Conference League it's actually the exact opposite and they are giving relatively big money to clubs and countries who got nothing before.

 

 

Edited April 17 by Pata

[Ginola]

No, it didn't at all. It was implicit that I watch enough football to have a comprehensive view of what's entertaining or what's not "absolute torture". You might not realise it but ultimately entertainment comes down to preference. For me, when it comes to football, quality factors in quite substantially when it comes to preference, which is why I've enjoyed watching the likes of PSG/Barca vs Peruvian 3rd tier (who can't qualify for EL btw). The initial point was that lower PL teams still have too much financial clout than other European nations so they'll continue to dominate the EL, which still stands. I also fine PSG/Barca much more entertaining than Man Utd/Spurs so +1 CL for me

[Kaizero]

4 minutes ago, Pata said:

 

Two days after that Villa-PSG spectacle?

Yes, I just got to watch the Lazio-B/G spectacle. Perhaps one of the most exciting games I’ve watched as a neutral. 
 

On a personal level, I’d rather B/G didn’t get to the final - I especially hope they don’t win it. Them advancing to the Semis now mean the Norwegian UEFA coefficient will be gigh enough got one of our teams going straight into the CL group stage without having to play a qualifying round first. 

If B/G win it, my hometown will forever be doomed to live in Bodø’s shade - so, fuck that! Go Spurs/Frogmen/Bilbao!

 

The fact I enjoy the EL/EC more has nothing to do with Bodø/Glimt. The implication itself would be comparable to someone asking a NUFC fan “surely, you must hope Boro win the final - making the whole of North Eastern England proud??”

 

[Kid Icarus]

I think there's a certain generation and older that remember how good, competitive and important the UEFA Cup was before the Champions League was expanded, and now kind of balk at the idea of the Europa League being something to laud. It hasn't felt the same since about 1998 and its importance and overall quality has never recovered.

 

The Champions League is still often brilliant and hoys up the highest quality and most dramatic football going. It's lulled recently because imo Real Madrid's somehow-still-win-despite-being-awful routine, combined with them being a hateful club has absolutely stunk out the competition, as well as being post-Messi/prime Barca, but it's not in a fixed state of being inherently boring like, that's frankly just bollocks.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17 by Kid Icarus

[ianbeany]

57 minutes ago, JUICE690 said:

Wow, amazing Lyon fucked that up. Did Man red get spawny decisions or was it just a mental game?

 

A bit of both really, Jacob.

[Disco]

8 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

I think there's a certain generation and older that remember how good, competitive and important the UEFA Cup was before the Champions League was expanded, and now kind of balk at the idea of the Europa League being something to laud. It hasn't felt the same since about 1998 and its importance has never recovered.

 

The Champions League is still often brilliant and hoys up the highest quality and most dramatic football going. It's lulled recently because imo Real Madrid's somehow-still-win-despite-being-awful routine, combined with them being a hateful club has absolutely stunk out the competition, as well as being post-Messi/prime Barca, but it's not in a fixed state of being inherently boring like, that's frankly just bollocks.

 

 

 

 

 

Europa League is near always drama central in the knockouts mind. Quality isn’t what is was but such is life. Can say exactly the same about the second tier of English football to a lesser but still comparable degree. 

 

25 minutes ago, Pata said:

 

In the case of Conference League it's actually the exact opposite and they are giving relatively big money to clubs and countries who got nothing before.

Even though it’d be detrimental to us they should fuck off clubs with 4/5 CL spots out of it. If Chelsea win it this season it’ll be a stain on the competition. 

[Kid Icarus]

5 minutes ago, Disco said:

Europa League is near always drama central in the knockouts mind. Quality isn’t what is was but such is life. Can say exactly the same about the second tier of English football to a lesser but still comparable degree. 

Aye, it's more a defence of the CL really. The Europa is entertaining because of the drama but like you say the quality isn't there to the same extent and that's a big part of the entertainment for me. The CL doesn't always have both, but it quite often does in the latter stages I reckon. It's part of the reason I dislike Real Madrid so much, because they're always sniffing about and the matches they're not getting beaten in are nearly all absolutely honkin' 

 

 

Edited April 17 by Kid Icarus

[ponsaelius]

Yeah basically I think the Europa league needs more quality dropped into it - but conversely the Conf League needs the the top 3 or top 5 leagues taken out of it to be more true to its intentions.

[Disco]

6 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Aye, it's more a defence of the CL really. The Europa is entertaining because of the drama but like you say the quality isn't there to the same extent and that's a big part of the entertainment for me. The CL doesn't always have both, but it quite often does in the latter stages I reckon. It's part of the reason I dislike Real Madrid so much, because they're always sniffing about and the matches they're not getting beaten in are nearly all absolutely honkin' 

 

 

 

Know what you mean. I’ve always been and probably always will be that that the CL like major international tournaments has so much riding on it and interest in it that the latter rounds they’re inherently watchable and entertaining near regardless of what happens unless it’s some bozo team getting through and then getting pieced. Quality these days is absolutely off the charts too.

 

Have to say the massive league thing and to a lesser extent the pointless playoff round has hugely turned me off it this season though. Can’t be arsed with all that shit.

[ponsaelius]

If the Europa has the play-off round losers from the CL drop into it and had the current Conference League entrants from the top 5 leagues from the outset - would make it a stronger competition again.

 

Everything is just spread too thinly now for me. You've got a massive bloated CL where most of the clubs will be present but never come close to winning it - teams that would have previously had a good shot of winning the EL. Then you've got everybody else left over strewn across two other massive competitions.

 

 

Edited April 17 by ponsaelius

[Disco]

4 minutes ago, ponsaelius said:

If the Europa has the play-off round losers from the CL drop into it and had the current Conference League entrants from the top 5 leagues from the outset - would make it a stronger competition again.

 

Everything is just spread too thinly now for me. You've got a massive bloated CL where most of the clubs will be present but never come close to winning it - teams that would have previously had a good shot of winning the EL. Then you've got everybody else left over strewn across two other massive competitions.

CL bloating and extra games is likely going to further screw the leagues from which the perennial alsorans qualify from further too as they’re getting even more bunce to appear and stay ahead of the domestic competition. Celtic, Slovan, Croatia Zagreb, Red Star etc. 

[Superior Acuña]

For Manu this has all come from that FA Cup win last year v Man City. They’d have missed out on Europe two years in a row on league performance - now they could have Europa and CL stemming from that cup win. 

 

If Coventry had hung on in the semi, they'd have no FA Cup, no Europa League, and no possibility of CL and another cup.

 

 

Edited April 18 by Superior Acuña

[The Bonk]

16 minutes ago, Superior Acuña said:

For Manu this has all come from that FA Cup win last year v Man City. They’d have missed out on Europe two years in a row on league performance - now they could have Europa and CL stemming from that cup win. 

 

Sickening, isn't it? Overall, they don't deserve any of it, but here we are.   

 

[Disco]

Mad that Bodo are in the semi final like. Takes about half an hour to walk the city and the ground is made of meccano. Fair play to the reindeer shaggers.

[Mike]

100 percent a foul for the 5th goal btw. Cunts.

[Wolfcastle]

The format helps nothing either. Highlights the B and C league nature of them and Just further ensures progression for the teams you want to shake it up from. A random cup draw and Chelsea fetch up with Fiorentina and you've a chance of opening things up.

[Wolfcastle]

1 hour ago, Kaizero said:

 

There’s no reason for you to even try, your «competition value» double-standard is so god damned high you might seriously injure yourself in the fall down.

What does that even prove? Wimbledon won the FA Cup. Does that mean its rubbish? 

All those sides pictured beat better teams along the way than Man United and Spurs will face in the Europa League or Chelsea in the Conference. As did Wimbledon.

 

 

Edited April 18 by Wolfcastle

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

2 hours ago, Kaizero said:

No, two PL teams have lucked their way to the semis against better opposition. I’ve always maintained that any match the EL and EC is streeta ahead of any CL fixture between the same old teams that play in the year in, year our. If you don’t support a team playing in it, watching a CL fixture feels like absolute torture. Boring, shit, predictive fixtures between team more aftraid of losing than they’d enjoy winning.

 

The CL is absolute shit, the saddest thing abour our own rise is that I won’t get to see us play another season in the EL before we join the cycle of repetitiveness ourselves.

 

Lyon were shite tbf. Frankfurt not that much better. Whether or not you think money won on the night, it's undoubtedly benefited Man Utd and Spurs in this competition. Their starting 11s are better, form aside, and their benches even more so, even when weakened. 

[Jewel]

They'll be dancing in the streets of Sunderland if Bilbao manage to win this thing.

[Groundhog63]

5 hours ago, Superior Acuña said:

For Manu this has all come from that FA Cup win last year v Man City. They’d have missed out on Europe two years in a row on league performance - now they could have Europa and CL stemming from that cup win. 

 

If Coventry had hung on in the semi, they'd have no FA Cup, no Europa League, and no possibility of CL and another cup.

 

 

 

 

More than Coventry failing to hang on, the biggest factor in Man United winning that FA Cup was Pep Guadiola allowing his players to get absolutely fucking hammered until 4am in the morning a few days beforehand. 

 

Probably a pointer to their subsequent malaise this season too. 

[TheBrownBottle]

5 hours ago, ponsaelius said:

If the Europa has the play-off round losers from the CL drop into it and had the current Conference League entrants from the top 5 leagues from the outset - would make it a stronger competition again.

 

Everything is just spread too thinly now for me. You've got a massive bloated CL where most of the clubs will be present but never come close to winning it - teams that would have previously had a good shot of winning the EL. Then you've got everybody else left over strewn across two other massive competitions.

 

 

 

The bloating is a deliberate problem, but it’s a problem.  I can get misty-eyed looking at the last ever ‘true’ European Cup QFs in 1991 (before the competition introduced a group stage):

 

Three Eastern European clubs (two of which went through - one of them actually won the tournament).  It looks surreal today, but used to be the norm.  It’s all become a bit asinine. 

[CPL]

5 hours ago, Superior Acuña said:

For Manu this has all come from that FA Cup win last year v Man City. They’d have missed out on Europe two years in a row on league performance - now they could have Europa and CL stemming from that cup win. 

 

If Coventry had hung on in the semi, they'd have no FA Cup, no Europa League, and no possibility of CL and another cup.

 

 

 

Look at it from this point of view.

 

They won the cup meaning we didn't qualify for Europe allowing our players to get more rest. Resulting in us winning a trophy and sitting 3rd in a very strong position with 6 games to go! 

 

[Hank Marvin]

I see the mighty ducks have got through to semi-finals with a last minute, redemption arc, hollywood ending involving the previously mocked special kid.

 

Didn't care for it myself, found the ending cliched & unrealistic. 4/10.

 

Let us hope that the director makes the opposition somewhat more believable in the sequel.

 

Of course the ending of the trilogy, presumably, is a face off against the fat Australian bully, with our little red protagonists predictably immortalised by winning & reaching the Champions League with a Championship team...

 

Think I'll give it a miss.

[Groundhog63]

16 minutes ago, CPL said:

Look at it from this point of view.

 

They won the cup meaning we didn't qualify for Europe allowing our players to get more rest. Resulting in us winning a trophy and sitting 3rd in a very strong position with 6 games to go! 

 

 

Fair points 😂