FFS, France is likely to be overtaken by Portugal in coefficient rankings. Their league is shit, considering they're a much wealthier and bigger country.
Champions League Round of 16 fixtures
- Thread starter Sojiro
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Not only PSG, the other clubs in the league.
Point taken about Spain, only Barcelona have the upper hand, and that's just based on the matchup against Milan. As for the Europa league, maybe it's an English thing, but clubs elsewhere take it more serious. It's still a prestigious competition.
Do not be so sure. An away match at Freiburg is something Bayern really does not like very much. A noname team with a great coach.
(And maybe I should not tell that Freiburg's most expensive player has cost around a million - they have a great footballing school)
You've missed his point entirely. He's saying that the 'quality of the league' doesn't mean 'how good the top few teams are'. It means 'how good, on average, all the teams in the league are'. And on that count, the Premier League probably still edges it. Or at least, the Premier League and La Liga are still some way ahead of the rest.
Every season someone comes up with a different way that the Champions League demonstrates a decline in the PL, and it's always bollocks. Arsenal are in fifth place. Imagine what we could do to Freiburg! Better still, imagine how much of a shock it would be if Freiburg - the fifth-placed Bundesliga team - somehow won the Champions League the way Chelsea - the fifth-placed PL team - did last season.
The Premier League is doing just fine. Other than the emergence of one of the best teams of all time in Barcelona, the balance of the big European clubs is roughly what it has been for a long time. Ok, England doesn't have that strong second team at the moment, but if Mourinho goes to City or someone like Falcao to Chelsea, that will quickly sort itself out.
And United going out to Real won't change that, either. Just as Real going out to us won't suggest that La Liga's European giants are in decline.
Oh it will alright! The most likely teams in the last 8:
Bayern
PSG
Juventus
Barcelona
United or Madrid
Porto
Dortmund
Schalke or Galatasary.
For the first time in feck knows how long, there will be seven very strong teams emerging from their ties. Any of those 7 teams have the quality to make the semi finals of the competition without it being a shock/fluke. Heck, forget the strongest teams, even the "weakest" team can boast Drogba and Sneijder in their starting lineup!
I also think that talk of the Premier League's decline is overstated. There are some structural deficiencies in the league that have to be fixed, no question.
But what other basis do we have for rating one league above another? Inter league competition isn't a perfect basis, but what else is there?
France don't care about the Europa League though, whereas Portugal do.
I'd say it's 50/50 but Schalke lost one of their best players in January while Galatasaray have added two recent CL winners (key players in CL victories for their respective sides as well) which makes them favourites in my view. Schalke are also in a poor form right now, aren't they?
Gala are favorites in that tie, imo.
Schalke are no mugs, but Gala have the edge.
Btw, Sneijder won't be cup tied ?
Schalke are no mugs, but Gala have the edge.
Btw, Sneijder won't be cup tied ?
Inter never qualified for the CL last season I don't think
When it comes to determining which league is how good the UEFA coefficients can be quite helpful.
They pretty much show how well the leagues have done in Europe over the last 5 years and thus are quite a good reflection on how strong a league is.
http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/index.html
Of course it's usually only the upper part of the league but I think it's still the best comparison you will get.
They pretty much show how well the leagues have done in Europe over the last 5 years and thus are quite a good reflection on how strong a league is.
http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/index.html
Of course it's usually only the upper part of the league but I think it's still the best comparison you will get.
That's their fecking problem, I don't have huge respect for people who refuse to go to a playing field.
They're shit in the CL as well, so if they don't care for the EL where the hell have they amassed their points?
From those rankings, if Portugal does well, French and Italian teams are in trouble when the 08/09 scores drop out.
That's the whole point. The strength of the European-competing fraction of a league is not the same as the strength of a league. A league is not simply its top five teams.
They have a more level playing field not 2-3 clubs who win domestics every year and get regular European experience.
Also, that co-efficient includes the Europa league which some countries seem to take more seriously than others for various reasons.
Well the thing is over 5 years those teams that make up those 6-7 top spots will likely be quite a large number I guess around 12-15 teams.
I also doubt that relegation candidates in those leagues are that much apart in terms of quality that it would tip the strength balance of leagues heavily into one direction.
That's why I think it's the only real comparison you will get everything else is just gut feelings and personal opinions.
Lyon won that league for something of a record times consecutively till recently, no ?
Now PSG seem likely to do that.
Well I think that's a lazy excuse of some of the big leagues tbh.
Maybe that is the case when a team like Chelsea or us has to play in the EL because they dropped out in the group phases I can see how those teams would find it hard to motivate themselves for it but a team that just so made it into the EL has no right to act like they are above the competition and if they do I'm sorry it's just a lame excuse.
So it's fine for us and Chelsea but is a lame excuse for others ?
Anyway, you didn't get the point. It might be a lame excuse for teams to use, but how can you judge leagues quality based on them not wanting to take a 2nd tier competition seriously ?
It's like you start judging PL's quality based on Carling cup coefficient vis a vis lower league teams, because most PL teams play Kids/Reserves.
If that's what you believe, that's perfectly reasonable. But the fact remains that if that were not the case, then that would be as much a part of which league was 'better' as how the top two teams of each league compared.
You're right that most of inter-league comparison is opinion and estimation, and that European ties and coefficients are the only source of real information. But they're still a flawed source of information, and information which only ever illuminates a fraction of the whole picture of a league. Yes, over five years more than just four or five teams per league get into European competitions, but in England and Spain (for example), contribution to the coefficient is still utterly dominated by a small handful of teams, and so it tells very little about the strength of the league as a whole.
Five different winners in five seasons, likely to become six now. I guess you can't say the same about many other European leagues, perhaps none?
1-0 is a pretty decent result at home tbf.
If they score one in the away leg, Malaga have to score 3.
If they score one in the away leg, Malaga have to score 3.
Schalke... is a club I never understand. The can leave you cold and hot. You never know what to expect. It can be that after weeks of real bad showings in the Bundesliga they play a great match tomorrow night. They have the players for it - it is not a problem of their quality.
The second goal from today - maybe I can find a gif from the other two, too.
well yeah, I'm limiting myself to the appreciation of the most regular top teams. I struggle to remember the last time a French team overcame a portuguese team in Europe.
The league isn't that shit, it's been more or less at the same level for a few years now(the quality and level of play I mean), it's just that french clubs have underperformed for years in the CL.Their performances in comparison to clubs from Portugal in the CL & EL have been shameful.
Every year it's the same bullshit, many coaches dream of playing in European competition for next season and when they get there they moan about the lack of funds, lack of squad bla bla bla
It's always the same thing, they field their weaker in the EL and I think it's a big disrespect to the competitionThey pretty much are. Haven't won in 4 games and lost at home to the worst team in the Bundesliga. Galatasaray aren't fantastic but they will wipe the floor with Schalke, who are woeful.
They did beat Arsenal at the emirates though!
So did Blackburn. Also, Schalke's form has deteriorated badly since then. In fact, since they beat Olympiakos 1-0 in the final CL group game, Schalke have won only 1 game in 12 attempts.
That was at a time Schalke were in good form. Since then they've sacked their coach and are in horrendous form and quite unlikely to even qualify for the CL next year.
Apparently we've attempted and completed more passes than anyone else (Besides Barca of course) in the Champions League. Is this true??
The first half really was a lesson for us, it was embarrassing really. Second half we almost made it 2-2 but would of been an injustice for Bayern as they deserved their win.
Apart from your lot every other English side would of probably got dicked, not that it makes me feel any better but this Bayern are in the very top tier of teams whereas we are not.
No way! with that shit CM of ours? I say it's only because we've played shit teams so far.
To be fair besides Madrid thats hard to deny
You can only beat what's in front of you and we didn't manage that last year. It was a typical if indeed easy group, but we shouldn't use City's group as a benchmark of what you expect at that stage.
You are more than capable of beating most top teams anyway ( beating Barca and Bayern requires a fair bit of luck too) I think you will get past Madrid, and hopefully do what we did and be the sole English team in the competition and go far. SAF may have an unusually terrible record vs Jose in terms of actual wins but I think he'll pull this one out.
You see, I'm not saying our midfield is close to Barca's level, but then again, whose is? I'm just frustrated by the lack of any appreciation. With our wingers injured/off color this season, the CM must have done something right so far to get us where we are.
I think a lot of your quality has by passed the midfield, although it hasn't been poor, not the level some people make out anyway.
When you have RVP, Rooney, Hernandez and Welbeck ( who has improved a lot as a player if not a goal scorer) up front or around the front, there's a get out for the midfield.
There have been games this season when your midfield has been exposed, usually by a direct runner or strong opposing midfielder, ie Spurs twice, Newcastle at OT, Fulham, Everton and Chelsea.
The differences in most of those games has been the brilliant attack.
I wouldn't say our midfield was that much of a problem against your lot. We just had our shit period of 30 minutes or so when we let you back in the game. In big games this season it's been perfectly fine I'd say. It's our customary complacent period in games where we don't know whether to attack or sit back and end up almost throwing it away.