The Official 16/17 UEFA Champion's League and International Club News Thread

[GirlySports]

Frank McCourt has bought Olympique Marseille. A club and city notorious for being unmanageable. This the guy who owned the Dodgers and had to sell the team to settle his divorce.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Zenit St. Petersburg has been offered €6.8 million to change it's name to Zenit Burger King. That seems like a pretty low offer, but hopefully they accept.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Welcome back Champions League. Man City-Mönchengladbach has been postponed because it's raining like mad in Manchester.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Arsenal down a goal within 45 seconds lol. Some things never change.

[Slava]

6-0 at this point for Barca over Celtic.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I'm sure Arsenal fans were wondering why Ospina was in for Cech, but he's been great today for them. Cavani on the other hand....

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Slava

6-0 at this point for Barca over Celtic.

Celtic missed a penalty when it was 1-0. Could have changed everything

[SuperMatt18]

Champions League used to be better IMO.

Feel like with Barca, Madrid, and Bayern spending so much money since 2013 that the divide between the top 3 teams and the rest of the European pack has become huge.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Champions League used to be better IMO.

Feel like with Barca, Madrid, and Bayern spending so much money since 2013 that the divide between the top 3 teams and the rest of the European pack has become huge.

Well, I'd agree and disagree, I think a huge chunk of it has to do with the fact that English teams havent spent particularly well.

Besides, Juve, PSG and Atletico are consistently in the mix as well.

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah lots playing into it for sure - doesn't help that from a development perspective that Spain/Germany are so far ahead it's not even fair. Causing their big domestic team to have a big advantage in attracting talent.

Plus then on top of the quality of "national players" you have Barca, Bayern, and Madrid spending a ton on the best foreign talent- and spending it smartly. They really have consolidated the true world class players (especially attacking players) on those 3 teams.

Italian football overall has taken a step back - with only Juve being a real threat at any point in time - and even they have a harder time keeping their best players. The Milan teams are shadows of their former selves, and Roma has never been a factor.

English football has seen a lot of poor spending and a lot of that is due to playing second fiddle to the big 3 mentioned on the transfer market. Can't get the true "stars" to come to England so are over-spending on great but not world class players, or younger players with potential.

German football had a bit of a resurgence - but Bayern spending and purchasing all the good german players ended that quickly.

I just feel like there used to be more intrigue watching this in the mid to late 00's - especially in the group stages.

[SuperMatt18]

In terms of today's performances it's interesting to see Kimmich score twice in one of his first starts as a deep lying holding midfielder for Bayern.

Played Right Back for Germany at the Euros and I think he played there for Bayern last year as well.

Could be interesting to see if they keep him in the middle.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Locke

Well, I'd agree and disagree, I think a huge chunk of it has to do with the fact that English teams havent spent particularly well.

Besides, Juve, PSG and Atletico are consistently in the mix as well.

Is it all spending though? I mean clearly that is a piece of it, but then you look at the Premier League and there is a lot of healthy competition there. There are probably 6-7 teams that are serious contenders for the top 4 and of those at least 4 who could make a reasonable case to win the league. Didn't Bayern win by some crushing amount last year though? So they can roll out the A side midweek for the Champions League without a huge concern and then roll through domestically for the most part.

[nik-]

Bayern haven't had anyone finish within 10 points of them in the last four seasons.

[GirlySports]

You had more big teams in the group stage too. This champions qualifying level really hurts the quality

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by Slava

Is it all spending though? I mean clearly that is a piece of it, but then you look at the Premier League and there is a lot of healthy competition there. There are probably 6-7 teams that are serious contenders for the top 4 and of those at least 4 who could make a reasonable case to win the league. Didn't Bayern win by some crushing amount last year though? So they can roll out the A side midweek for the Champions League without a huge concern and then roll through domestically for the most part.

Sadly, I think Matt has a great point.

None of the English the clubs are way out front in terms of acquiring and developing players. Thus they have to spend, alot.

Depth is paramount in England, due to the domestic parity & think only City & United have the depth to play top football both domestically and in Europe with the same level of competitiveness. That's because they have oodles of money.

The money can't be forever though; not with mediocre results vs the spend.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I think United are unique though, they have such a massive worldwide following that the money will always be rolling in. I mean Depay had the number 1 selling jersey last year. Did he really deserve that title? Of course not, but United fans are plentiful and bought a lot of Memphis jerseys. I imagine Pogba and Zlatan will easily be 1-2 in jersey sales this year. And I mentioned it in the Prem League thread but I read United has at least 70 different sponsors. Will they lose some support if they go another couple years winning nothing besides FA Cups? Maybe, but I think it'd have to be a steep decline into a midtable club for that to happen.

[d_phaneuf]

going to be really strange watching a home side at Wembley tomorrow who play fast paced attacking football

[Locke]

Slovenia represent!

Aleksander Ceferin has been elected the new president of UEFA, beating Michael van Praag in the race to succeed Michel Platini.

Ceferin, who was appointed president of the Slovenian FA in 2011 and has a background in law, won 42 of the 55 votes at the Extraordinary UEFA Congress in Athens on Wednesday.

"My small and beautiful Slovenia is very proud about it and I hope one day you will also be very proud of me,"

http://www.espnfc.us/blog/uefa/258/p...michel-platini

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

I'm sure Arsenal fans were wondering why Ospina was in for Cech, but he's been great today for them. Cavani on the other hand....

What are you talking about? Aside from scoring that early one, Cavani was brilliant for Arsenal!

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Sadly, I think Matt has a great point.

None of the English the clubs are way out front in terms of acquiring and developing players. Thus they have to spend, alot.

Although they haven't spent the best, English clubs do have to pay a premium.

[cam_wmh]

Mourinho announced his 20 man squad vs Feyenoord.
Rooney, Shaw, Valencia, Jones, Mkhitaryan & Lingard stay home.

My 11


--------------- Rashford
----- Memphis Herrera Mata
-------- Schneiderlin Carrick
------ Rojo Smalling Baily Darmian
-------------- de Gea