I can easily comprehend,Sam, why and how you feel so stulltified as far as the group stage of the UEFA Champions League is concerned. I too was really pissed off by the two group stages but I like the current format of the Champions League.
We already have had a good discussion about the format and I won't really get deep into it once more. But you need to acknowledge that the Champions League is not entirely or purely football;the element of finanace creeps in as well. 32 teams in the Champions League proper implies that more money from revenue and ads will be floated around and not only for an odd tie but for much longer and this is going to help the clubs outside the G14 elite. Granted,the group stage does not necessarily produce the best football but as far as entertainment in terms of drama and suspense are considered,well,you can hardly argue. Last season,a defeat to Benfica knocked Manchester United out not only of the Group Stage of the Champions League but the consolation of the back door entry to the UEFA Cup too was taken away from them. This season,had Barca lost to Bremen at Camp Nou,they too would have been eliminated and similar would have been the case for Man U,this time again against Benfica at Old Trafford. Most of the time,the opening three or four games in the group stage do not promise drama or competition,but once a top side slips up as they often tend to do enigmatically,things start to open up to a reasonable extent.
And I am resentful towards Pplatini's proposal to allow three teams from Spain,Italy and England. Everyone knows that in European club football,these are three most popular and best domestic leagues and produce either the winner or the finalists in the Champions League. The balance of power cannot be shifted and as an outsider who lives far away from Europe,I would not like any so-called lesser team come from an East European nation and play some third-rate football instead of a big team exhibiting some out-of-the-football. I do sympathise with Platini to a good degree:I can see his stance of drafting in the less privileged clubs into the competition but he needs to realise the European Champions League provides the best fotball in the world,the best players in the world are here and we,the football lovers want to keep things as they are. Just take at the teams that are in the last 8 of the UEFA Cup this season. There are 3 clubs from Spain,2 from Germany and 1 each from England,Holland and Portugal. Where are the clubs from Eastern Europe or the less privileged nations?
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Subhankar Mondal is a football writer for www.goal.com.
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