Re: You know competition is in decline when...

by halamadrid2 Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:31 pm

Jason Jarrett wrote:The problem is with the R16 being a knock out phase instead of a 2nd Group stage,the minnows can cause 1 upset,but doing it again is a massive task.It happened last season with Shakhtar,Schalke and Spurs.they caused 1 big upset each and credit to them,but second time around,against Real,ManU,Barca,it ain't gonna happen twice.

well Apoel caused a number of upsets, both to their group and to their L16 opponent, of course it would be too much to ask for when they are up against one of the favourites to win the title

Man U were knocked out in the group stage where there a more games to redeem your mistakes from one game and so on.....

by Jason Jarrett Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:34 pm

well rather 8 teams from 7 countries,then 1 country having 3 or 4 Quarter and semi-finalists and constantly reminding us that they are God's gift to football.

by REWB Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:41 pm

@izzy WHY are you bringing up the last 7 years? IM NOT TALKING about the last 7 years though. im talking about the last 2 years thats it. cant you understand that? all i am saying is that rm have had easier teams on the way to the semi finals for the last two years, SIMPLE. im sick of RM facing lyon, ajax and apoel. For my entertainment i want to see them facing more lucrative teams, as the past 2 years people have been calling rm the "second best team" and farrrrr better than anyone else bar barca.

by Swanhends Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:43 pm

As much as I love the excitement of smaller teams going far in the tournament...There's no denying that the quality on display yesterday was absolutely dire

by Zealous Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:44 pm

Ajax beat United at Old Trafford.

Also how is two years a good sample size? That could just be luck or it could be that since Real Madrid have improved in Europe since Jose came topping our CL groups has given us a better chance at drawing "lesser" competition.

by izzy Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:46 pm

REWB wrote:@izzy WHY are you bringing up the last 7 years? IM NOT TALKING about the last 7 years though. im talking about the last 2 years thats it. cant you understand that? all i am saying is that rm have had easier teams on the way to the semi finals for the last two years, SIMPLE. im sick of RM facing lyon, ajax and apoel. For my entertainment i want to see them facing more lucrative teams, as the past 2 years people have been calling rm the "second best team" and farrrrr better than anyone else bar barca.

How can you sit there and say 'madrid get easy team' After a TWO year period? Where is the logic in that? If you didn't know, we played Spurs, Milan, Barca last year as well.

But whatever, we only face easy teams. Rolling Eyes

by urbaNRoots Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:53 pm

Zealous wrote:Arsenal have been getting the easiest group in the CL for years now. YEARS.

Arsenal didn't have one single time the easiest group. lol just stop it already.

by izzy Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:02 pm

urbaNRoots wrote:
Zealous wrote:Arsenal have been getting the easiest group in the CL for years now. YEARS.

Arsenal didn't have one single time the easiest group. lol just stop it already.

2005: PSV, Rosenborg, Panathanikos
2006: Ajax, Thun, Sparta P
2007: Porto, CSKA, Hamburg
2008: Sevilla, Steaua B, Slavia P
2009: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Fenerbache
2010: Olympiacos, AZ, Standard Liege.
2011: Braga, Shakhtar, Partizan
2012: Marseille, Dortmund, Olympiacos.

PISS EASY.

by Zealous Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:08 pm

This year:

Arsenal
Marseille
Olympiacos
Borussia Dortmund

Somewhat tough but I guarantee you if Madrid got this group all of you would be saying it was easy.

Last year:

Shakhtar Donetsk
Arsenal
Braga
Partizan

Neutral

Same deal

The year before that:

Arsenal
Olympiacos
Standard Liège
AZ

:facepalm:

The year before:

Porto
Arsenal
Dynamo Kyiv
Fenerbahçe

If Madrid got this it would have been "easy"

The year before:

Sevilla
Arsenal
Slavia Prague
Steaua Bucureşti

Sevilla were good that year but aside from that easy group.

The year before:

Arsenal
Porto
CSKA Moscow
Hamburg

The only "big" teams that have shown up so far are Porto and maybe Sevilla that one year.

The year before:

Arsenal
Ajax
Thun
Sparta Prague

:vagi:

The year before:

Arsenal
PSV Eindhoven
Panathinaikos
Rosenborg

.........

The year before: (2003-2004)

Arsenal
Lokomotiv Moscow
Internazionale
Dynamo Kyiv

Inter are there and I remember Lokomotiv being quite good that year.

Year before:

Arsenal
Borussia Dortmund
Auxerre
PSV Eindhoven

Again lol

I could go on. Only heavy hitters as far as names have been Inter and Porto twice.

by REWB Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:16 pm

thats the same for ALL pot one teams lol, wth are you guys talking about? its the group stages its designed to help the teams in pot 1 go through. :facepalm:

dont start bringing up the groups RM have had as you guys were in pot 2...

by urbaNRoots Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:16 pm

izzy wrote:
urbaNRoots wrote:
Zealous wrote:Arsenal have been getting the easiest group in the CL for years now. YEARS.

Arsenal didn't have one single time the easiest group. lol just stop it already.

2005: PSV, Rosenborg, Panathanikos
2006: Ajax, Thun, Sparta P
2007: Porto, CSKA, Hamburg
2008: Sevilla, Steaua B, Slavia P
2009: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Fenerbache
2010: Olympiacos, AZ, Standard Liege.

PISS EASY.

Still not the easiest's:

2010: CSKA Moskva, VfL Wolfsburg, Besiktas JK, Man Utd
2009: Inter Milan, Anorthosis, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos
2008: Inter Milan, Fenerbahce, PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow
2007: Liverpool FC, PSV Eindhoven, Girondins Bordeau, Galatasaray
2006: Olympique Lyon, Real Madrid, Rosenborg BK, Olympiacos Piraeus
2005: Liverpool, Olympiakos Piraeus, Monaco, Deportivo Coruna

by izzy Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:18 pm

urbaNRoots wrote:
izzy wrote:
urbaNRoots wrote:
Zealous wrote:Arsenal have been getting the easiest group in the CL for years now. YEARS.

Arsenal didn't have one single time the easiest group. lol just stop it already.

2005: PSV, Rosenborg, Panathanikos
2006: Ajax, Thun, Sparta P
2007: Porto, CSKA, Hamburg
2008: Sevilla, Steaua B, Slavia P
2009: Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Fenerbache
2010: Olympiacos, AZ, Standard Liege.

PISS EASY.

Still not the easiest's:

2010: CSKA Moskva, VfL Wolfsburg, Besiktas JK, Man Utd
2009: Inter Milan, Anorthosis, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos
2008: Inter Milan, Fenerbahce, PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow
2007: Liverpool FC, PSV Eindhoven, Girondins Bordeau, Galatasaray
2006: Olympique Lyon, Real Madrid, Rosenborg BK, Olympiacos Piraeus
2005: Liverpool, Olympiakos Piraeus, Monaco, Deportivo Coruna

Sure it isn't. Laughing

You keep telling yourselves that. Laughing

by Zealous Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:19 pm

REWB wrote:thats the same for ALL pot one teams lol, wth are you guys talking about? its the group stages its designed to help the teams in pot 1 go through.

dont start bringing up the groups RM have had as you guys were in pot 2...

In case you haven't noticed we've been getting Milan and Lyon consistently in the group stages.

by izzy Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:19 pm

REWB wrote:thats the same for ALL pot one teams lol, wth are you guys talking about? its the group stages its designed to help the teams in pot 1 go through.

dont start bringing up the groups RM have had as you guys were in pot 2...

Bullcrap, Arsenal should have faced the strongest team from each pot. That's the only way to make the CL fair. Rolling Eyes

by EarlyPrototype Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:21 pm

REWB wrote:Its UEFA giving Madrid APOEL!!, its fixed ffs, they just want RM to win the CL!!. The amount of week teams RM have been getting these past two years in the Quarters, last 16 and the group stages have been ridiculous.

The probability of Barca getting APOEL was the same as Real's chances. So one time we get the easiest QF UEFA are automatically trying to force RM to win the CL? Laughing

What about last season in the semi's? were Barca deliberately drawn against Real so they can win the CL for the 10th time?

by Adit Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:25 pm

Yeah why group stages? CL should start from round of 16 on wards and the draws should be permutations of the so called big teams..

jeez,people these days.

by Lord Hades Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:30 pm

REWB wrote:fking helll, i didnt want to bring up the last 7 years because RM weren’t that strong in the CL, but the last two years RM have been making it past the last 16 have they not? and im saying RM have had easier teams than what other big teams have had to face. When is the last time RM faced a man utd, chelsea, bayern to get to the semis? all they have had to face a weeker Milan side, fck me is it that hard to understand?

we beat milan in the groups, and spurs in knockouts, how are a team that beat inter and ac an easy team again?

by Jay29 Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:34 pm

Hard evidence suggests Arsenal have, indeed, had easy groups for a while now. The extent of the difficulty is usually "tricky", and we might have the odd tough away fixture, but that's about it. There's no point in denying it.

It's a nice little side effect of being in Pot 1 every year. Although the draw may look fixed at times I don't think it is. Madrid drew CSKA Moscow because they topped their group thus earned the right to play a second-placed side. APOEL are an anomoly this year; a minnow who somehow ended up topping a group with Zenit, Shakhtar and Porto and knocking out Lyon.

On a related note, I don't see people saying the draw is fixed in Bayern Munich's favour. Basel in the Last 16, Marseille in the Last 8? Should be a breeze for them.

On topic now - I'm all for lower ranked teams doing well in the competition not for the entertainment factor, but purely because it means these clubs gain more reputation and more money to help their domestic competitions, thus slowly improving the standard of football around Europe.

Wherever you end up in the Champions League, teams will have earned the right to be there. Top clubs are declining everywhere and it's reflecting in their European performance. A tie between two of the biggest clubs in Europe doesn't guarantee high quality entertainment.

by Albiceleste Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:39 pm

Leverkusen > any team Madrid has faced thus far

by Adit Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:40 pm

yeah teams with players fighting for messi's shirt and letting 7 in >>> Laughing

by Albiceleste Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:42 pm

It's bad when it takes a club to get all the way to the semi-finals to finally face a decent team.

by the xcx Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:44 pm

by halamadrid2 Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:49 pm

GoonerJay29 wrote:Hard evidence suggests Arsenal have, indeed, had easy groups for a while now. The extent of the difficulty is usually "tricky", and we might have the odd tough away fixture, but that's about it. There's no point in denying it.

It's a nice little side effect of being in Pot 1 every year. Although the draw may look fixed at times I don't think it is. Madrid drew CSKA Moscow because they topped their group thus earned the right to play a second-placed side. APOEL are an anomoly this year; a minnow who somehow ended up topping a group with Zenit, Shakhtar and Porto and knocking out Lyon.

On a related note, I don't see people saying the draw is fixed in Bayern Munich's favour. Basel in the Last 16, Marseille in the Last 8? Should be a breeze for them.

On topic now - I'm all for lower ranked teams doing well in the competition not for the entertainment factor, but purely because it means these clubs gain more reputation and more money to help their domestic competitions, thus slowly improving the standard of football around Europe.

Wherever you end up in the Champions League, teams will have earned the right to be there. Top clubs are declining everywhere and it's reflecting in their European performance. A tie between two of the biggest clubs in Europe doesn't guarantee high quality entertainment.

where is the kudos button when you need it.... a + rep isnt enough

by halamadrid2 Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:50 pm

Albiceleste wrote:It's bad when it takes a club to get all the way to the semi-finals to finally face a decent team.

Albiceleste wrote:Dem glorious delicious tears

by Doc Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:53 pm

Funny enough, I thought APOEL played like a team that had so much drive and determination. Stuff you would think the so called top teams would have done to get to the quarter finals (which they didn't).

Yes, seeing poor APOEL having zero shots and basically having to defend the entire match isn't something that can be used to advertise the "Best Club competition in the World" tagline but beneath all that was a team that did everything within their limited selves to muster a positive result for themselves. In my opinion, they were really a breath of fresh air and really deserves a lot more respect than what they are getting.

Also, it was a delight reading REWB posts about Real Madrid getting easy teams for the past two years and somehow ignoring the last 7 years before that.

by nichabr Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:55 pm

This is sad people...The only reason the competition is so boring is because theirs a big drop in quality among all teams in recent times and the fact that we see teams going out there and barely playing football(not all but alot) anymore...Its all just teams going out there to do their job and not show any passion.

by Sponsored content