by Alivey »
06 May 2009 21:19
T.R.O.L.I. Alivey who wouldn't want more countries in the latter stages of the champions league? isn't that the competition is suppose to be about.. europe. if you want to watch a bunch of english clubs play eahc other.. why not.. i dunno.. watch the fa cup, league cup, premire league..
Which is what Platini is getting at but (using this season as an example) can you really see Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus, possibly Bayern Munich etc voting for a reduction of the Champions League to just the Champions of each country? The resultant massive loss in revenue both on and off the pitch to me says that would never happen. So, my original question of is there anything else Platini (or UEFA) can realisitically do or is the format of the CL here to stay (and possibly grow)?
I would perfer the competition myself to feature just the champions, maybe the cup winners, or 2nd place at a stretch. With Lennart Johansson in charge, he let clubs run riot and let the game grow into a finanical mess. Obviously it isn't just English clubs that took advantage of this and previously other countries were the big spenders, but currently there really is no one who can compete with the finanical clout of the big 4? Plantini can't really do much because he is in a position because the clubs will easily just tell UEFA to piss off if they try to reduce the income they make and run off and make a McLeague of the World. Even if the owners take on all the debts the clubs incur, they are still operating on a thin line. Personally I would be glad to see all clubs that were finanically irresponsible to be destroyed.