The Evolution of the Champions League

It's always interesting to see how football at the highest level evolves, especially for older folks who've followed it for decades.

During the naughties and dare I say very earlies 2010s, a 1-1 draw away from home in CL Knock-out round was a huge advantage. It sure doesn't feel this way.

It feels as every team can make every score at any given moment. Teams attack more, score more, and overall aren't as defensively sound as a decade ago.

We just witnessed two semi-finals that resulted in 20 goals total. That's an average of 5 goals a game. for a CL semi-final, where teams are known to be cagey.

Also, since Chelsea's win in 2012, almost every single team who's won the CL has been an attack first, defend later team. Whereas in the years preceding that you had teams like Porto, L'Pool, Inter and Chelsea win it who were mostly defensive teams.

At HT, I was having a fine Cuban cigar with a Chinese fella and a caucasian fella outside the bar watching the game. They made an interesting point. All Real Madrid's CL wins in the last few years, has come in finals against teams with strong defenses. Atletico and Juve are the best defensive teams in Europe (bar a Mourinho masterclass once every bluemoon), so it feels like having a strong defence in a one-off final against the Zidane machine hasn't worked. Can an offensive-minded Liverpool side, with a defense considerable worse than Atleti and Juve trouble Madrid more in a final than the latter 2 did? I don't know, but the fact that CL has gotten more and more offensive minded over the last decade, might explain why we have two teams with fantastic firing line, and relatively weak and hilarious defensive record there.

I'll be eagerly waiting for the Kyiv match. Had I not arranged to go to Russia for the WC next month, I would have attended the match. Very cheap tickets, cheap city, and a hotbed for young Chinese businessmen these days to find elegant and beautiful wives. It should be an interesting encounter, provided both teams are at full strength

Great post.
I was going to think same thing.
Same for older semifinals... Milan-Inter 0-0 Inter-Milan 1-1 2003, I think something like 3 shots totally , today it'd look like a match played on Mars.

Not many great defenders in this generation

I have to admit I like a team weitha strong tight defence.

I feel Too many goals cheapens the quality.

Specially when the goals scored arr defensive blunders like what happened in both semifinals. Some huge defensive errors that dont belong in top football, let alone in semifinal stage

This evolution confirms my idea that it is overrated to consider as an advantage the first leg at home
And in fact, if we watch last years...

Robespierre wrote:This evolution confirms my idea that it is overrated to consider as an advantage the first leg at home
And in fact, if we watch last years...

Not sure who ever considered a first leg at home an advantage?
Anyone I know, it was always clear the second leg at home was considered the advantageous constellation.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

Robespierre wrote:This evolution confirms my idea that it is overrated to consider as an advantage the first leg at home
And in fact, if we watch last years...

Not sure who ever considered a first leg at home an advantage?
Anyone I know, it was always clear the second leg at home was considered the advantageous constellation.

Infact it is lapsus
I meant exactly this

So you think it's not an advantage to have the second at home?
Or that ultimately it doesn't matter?

I have won the Champions League 2010 after I have played every first leg at home.
And the recent cases also suggest that we overrate the factor 1nd leg away.
That's ls because of goalfest , now even 0-2  looks like an overtunable result (hell, when we won 2-3 at Allianz after 0-1 at San Siro in 2011 it looked like an enterprise)
Anyway to play it safe I still prefer the 1st leg away.. but I just think it is not an old factor as in past.

Let's not bring that 2-3 up please

that was van Gaal madness at its best and worst

the first half a celebration of the good van Gaal brought to our club
the second half the final nail in his coffin

poor Breno vs Samuel Eto'o