Eidur Gudjohnsen's late goal left Liverpool hanging on against Barcelona before reaching the last eight of the Champions League on away goals. Did you see it?
Eidur Gudjohnsen's late goal left Liverpool hanging on against Barcelona before reaching the last eight of the Champions League on away goals. Did you see it?
i did, yes.
Barcelona weren't much were they ? Although you can only beat what's in front of you so credit to the scouse scum...
does anyone else think this competition has now become so diluted by 3rd / 4th best teams that the quality overall of Europe has dropped ? I seem to remember games of the 70's/ 80's were so much more exciting ...
small boys in the park, eh ?
jumpers for goalposts, isn't it ?
The CL had improved with allowing 3rd and 4th place teams to qualify. The competition is about Europe's best and they are part of that elite group.
Had this not happened, we would have not seen the greatest final of all time in 2005, Arsenal's solid defense (well up until the final) last season, and so forth.
Agree with Shuts, the group stages can be crap. However, look at Goup H, Lille qualified. What about the group of death, group A, when Barca qualified on day 6? Liverpool's group in the 04/-05 season, with Monaco (04 runners up), Deportivo (04 semi-finalists) and Olympiarous (sp.), which was decided on day 6 too.
However, I disagree with the moment about the UEFA Cup. Look at the teams that have been in that competition in recent years, Porto (03 winners), Valencia (04), Sevilla, CSKA Moscow (05), etc. Sevilla are top of La Liga, ahead of Barca, Real and Valenica.
I think the group stage in the UEFA cup was a good idea, it allowed teams to play more games.
Yeah but the quality of the football in the UEFA group stages is awful. You have teams who finish 6th, 7th and 8th in their leagues competing for a cup. These teams cannot even fill their own stadiums in many domestic games, but find themselves competing in Europe!
The competition only picks up when the Champions league teams come in, and even then it doesnt make much difference.
The CL had improved with allowing 3rd and 4th place teams to qualify. The competition is about Europe's best and they are part of that elite group.
Had this not happened, we would have not seen the greatest final of all time in 2005, Arsenal's solid defense (well up until the final) last season, and so forth.
Agree with Shuts, the group stages can be crap. However, look at Goup H, Lille qualified. What about the group of death, group A, when Barca qualified on day 6? Liverpool's group in the 04/-05 season, with Monaco (04 runners up), Deportivo (04 semi-finalists) and Olympiarous (sp.), which was decided on day 6 too.
However, I disagree with the moment about the UEFA Cup. Look at the teams that have been in that competition in recent years, Porto (03 winners), Valencia (04), Sevilla, CSKA Moscow (05), etc. Sevilla are top of La Liga, ahead of Barca, Real and Valenica.
I think the group stage in the UEFA cup was a good idea, it allowed teams to play more games.
These teams cannot even fill their own stadiums in many domestic games, but find themselves competing in Europe!
You seen La Liga or Serie A? they struggle to fill their stadiums. Only the German league and the PL have high attendance numbers, the other leagues are crap.
On average, there are almost as many fans who attend a Championship game then there fans who attend a Serie A game. Should the Italians not be allowed to play in Europe, based on attendance figures?
It better to have a 6th placed PL team in Europe then it is, to have the 3rd placed team from Estonia.
