Champions League v Premier League – which would you rather?
If you have been out of the continent for the last couple of days, you may have missed that the Champions League has rolled back around for the all important knock-out phase. Tottenham have the backing of the majority of the country after defeating AC Milan in the first leg at the San Siro, while Arsenal defeated the masters of football in Catalan giants Barcelona. I make it all sound very glamorous, but in seriousness, am I the only one who finds most of Champions League football incredibly boring?
The Champions League is the pinnacle of club football which ever way you look at it. Players want to play in it, clubs want to be in it. But up until recently, English teams haven’t really managed to compete, minus a few exceptions: Manchester United in 1999 and Liverpool in 2005. It would seem the English style just couldn’t cope with the crème of crop from foreign shores. Now, however, we’ve found a way of doing well. We’ve found a way of out-witting the Milan sides, or the magic of Real Madrid. It’s called being boring.
That is a little naïve, I know. Teams have to be tactically astute to cope with the demands of European football these days, so the old ethos of ‘let’s just have a go’ is no longer able to withstand the ultimate test. Saying that, Tottenham have been refreshingly honest in their pursuit of the unlikeliest of European glories this season, as that is the exact attitude they have taken into all of their games. They have translated Premier League form into the European game, and they currently fare no worse than Manchester United or Chelsea do. The only difference is Harry Redknapp’s sides exploits against Werder Bremen and Inter Milan were a lot more entertaining than any other Champions League game we’ve seen this season.
My point is, Spurs aside, Champions League fixtures no longer fill me with the excitement they used to. Tuesday and Wednesday nights used to make for good sporting entertainment. Now, part of me is tempted to flick the channel over to find out if anyone survived that tram crash on Coronation Street or not. (I’m joking, of course).
The Premier League on the other hand, with all it’s flaws, still provides us with that unpredictable factor. The smaller teams can beat the big guns. We have derby clashes, players moving clubs, managers going back to former teams, and most importantly we have attacking sides scoring plenty of goals – a far cry from Champions League football, Tottenham aside.
For any fans of the four English sides taking part in the Champions League this season, they will all tell you it will be a dream come true for their side to be crowned the best team in Europe. Of course it would, what a status for your club to hold. But what about everybody else? What would they rather watch on TV this week? Arsenal and Barcelona play the chess version of football, or Birmingham and Newcastle have a right go at each other?
For all of the quality on show at the San Siro and The Emirates over the last couple of days, if I really think about it, a muddy, wet St Andrews isn’t such a bad choice. It may be miles away from Barcelona in quality, but it sure is entertaining. Robin van Persie v Lionel Messi or Obafemi Martins v Nile Ranger? Not such an easy decision after all…
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how on earth can you say arsenal v Barcelona is ‘the chess version of football’, what world are you on both teams attack, and play beautiful football. the way the games supposed to be played
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stupidest article ever………how on earth can you call arsenal not entertaining is beyond me
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What?? This weeks Champions League has been spectacular! I’ve seen spurs beat the mighty AC Milan at the San Siro with some great stuff played by both sides. The Arsenal v Barca game has to be the game of the season so far in terms of football and chances, brillant entertainment for any lover of football in the world. The quality was at a different level. The Roma game had some cracking goals as well. The Valencia game seen the return of raul to spain and scoring, great stuff. As a Fulham supporter i’ve been well entertained this week
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The sub title…real fans, real opinions. This idiot(author) is neither.
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Champions league night football best ever
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Premier League Grafters Newcastle, come back against Champions League Team (Arsenal). Now thats entertainment at its best!!! Premier League all the way!!
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Yeah thats all fine and well, but small teams like Newcastle will always be amongst the mid table to relegation year in year out without making any progress. Proved by the sale of Andy Carroll
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Yeah thats all fine and well, but small teams like Newcastle will always be around mid-table/relegation zone, but really making no progress at all. with the highlight of their year being getting points off the big teams
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I cant even read all this, Sjeille is right the author is an idiot.
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