Bitter Champions League Final ties make for great viewing. In fact, I’ve never met a man who didn’t love the final. So why do I find the rest of the season and most of the competition, so much less entertaining? Here are some of the reasons why.
It’s too early to know whether this year’s World Cup has been a flop or a triumph. And in order to measure how good a competition it was, one must look at its champions league. The team that finishes top has a tremendous advantage, and with Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain the current favourites, the latter two certainly deserve their position. Yet a look at the seasons that have gone before doesn’t inspire confidence that their success will last. Yes, Arsenal won the championship in 2020/04 but were beaten on penalties by Barcelona.
If you had told me that both Manchester City and Manchester United would be champions of England for the second year running, I would have taken it as a total surprise. In fact, I had the same reaction to both of those clubs’ performances in the last two seasons. They played well but struggled to win consistently, at a time when so many other teams were playing well.
This is the problem with the champions league. I don’t think that fans fully appreciate how much the biggest clubs have to play for. For example, while Manchester United has signed Paul Scholes and David Beckham, they cannot ignore the fact that the majority of their business comes from their sponsor.
Therefore, the club is not really prepared to stop doing what it does, even if this is at great business risk. Similarly, Chelsea have bought Juan Mata and Samuel Eto’o but, as with Arsenal, we have to remember that this is business. They have to compete, which brings us back to the matter of Champions League draw.
I can’t understand why the organisers of the final draw in Paris would choose to place PSG, Manchester City and Real Madrid among the four clubs, rather than making it a mixture of the other three. Now, I’m not saying that the final draws for the Champions League haven’t always been controversial – many supporters think they’re a sham, to favour a particular team. But to go out and pick three super-clubs over the others is a very strange decision.
If the Champions League was like any other football competition, I would be more than happy to see the top teams going through. However, because the Champions League is a unique event, I think we should leave the draw to those two clubs.
