Champions League/Europa League 2016/17

[Ferdiad]

It's going to be a leaky final, Bailly is the only good defender left in the team and he got suspended.

[Treva ★]

Ajax - Urited, nice matchup. For once Mourinho behaved decently to another manager.

[Basileos Leandros I]

I cannot wait for this.

Let's gooo AJAX lets gooo!

[Ferdiad]

Hoping Utd smash Ajax.

[Knight of Heaven]

United was smart And displayed more experience, then Ajax.

Ajax was naive. I dont remember Romero even touching the ball the entire game. Not realy, dangerous so.

Worthy and just win for united.

[Gallus]

I felt sorry for Ajax. They were trying, but they didn't have a single dangerous shot on target. United is simply a better team.

[Muizer]

Ajax got to the final because they tactically surprised their opponents in their home games. Both in the quarters and the semis, they lost their away games, because the opponent was no longer surprised. Trust Mourinho not to fall into a trap others have fallen in twice before. Ajax is not a great team. It can do one thing well, but if the opponents do not play to their strengths their plan B isn't good enough.

[Macunaíma]

What was that just now? I had no idea Champions League had this ridiculous openings at their finals. Black eyed peas, wtf? Totally killed the football vibe. How do you europeans cope with this in your favorite sport?

[Basil II the B.S]

So, Real Madrid is the first team to win twice in a row since the modern format was introduced? Took a while.

[Candy_Licker]

What was that just now? I had no idea Champions League had this ridiculous openings at their finals. Black eyed peas, wtf? Totally killed the football vibe. How do you europeans cope with this in your favorite sport?

Well, last week in the German cup final they tried that stuff at half-time. It was glorious. The tv stations tried to hide all the whistling and booing by cutting the stadium noises down.
It was one of the loudest whistlings I've ever heard.

[Basil II the B.S]

The Americancerization of European sports continues.

[Knight of Heaven]

The Americancerization of European sports continues.

Yes i was going to say that. Next we will have Blockbuster trailers running for the first time in the half time of this matches, as well new adds and such.

That said there is some stuff they do right in their sports. Vid referre and such.

Alltough pop stars performing in football finals it isnt a new thing, in Europe.

So, Real Madrid is the first team to win twice in a row since the modern format was introduced? Took a while.

Indeed, but this format has become less and less competitive over the years. The 90s and early 2000s were better more exciting imo.

As this final was related, real was the better team tough. They do have a super team. And ballon dor will no doubt about will go to Cristiano again on this account.

[Basil II the B.S]

Tbh Real always had a super team, but for at least a decade they didn't win the Champions League.

[Gallus]

Indeed, but this format has become less and less competitive over the years. The 90s and early 2000s were better more exciting imo.

I also think that CL (and football in general) was better in the early 2000s. I can't quite figure out why. For some reason football feels somewhat fake and boring nowdays.

[Knight of Heaven]

Tbh Real always had a super team, but for at least a decade they didn't win the Champions League.

I kinda have to disagree a bit.... i mean it certainley is true they always a force to contend with being the Club in the world with most international titles and all. And thefact other traditional european clubs were stronger then they are right now to put up a competitive dynamic.

But my point is real had great players ( always), but as a team i think they werent as good as they are right now imo. At least Considering the last more recent years.

I also think that CL (and football in general) was better in the early 2000s. I can't quite figure out why. For some reason football feels somewhat fake and boring nowdays.

It is more calculist, and tactical then ever before, this makes most matches special finals and such to be more boring. ( wich wasnt exactly the case of this champions league to be honest...) The 2014 world cup had great football matches too as well...


I also think there is much less world class footballers then it was in the 90s and early 2000s.

Now you have messi and CR7, mostly... Neymar too.. alltough if you ask me as the paradigm go , its too few in comparison to those days.... when you had, R9, Zidane, Henry, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Deco, Figo Del piero etc etc... there was much more talent arround and more distributed, then it is today.

[Sir Adrian]

I feel bad for Buffon. Such a way to end a golden career.

I also think that CL (and football in general) was better in the early 2000s. I can't quite figure out why. For some reason football feels somewhat fake and boring nowdays.

Much better players, fewer financial interests from outside groups, less corruption. As good as they are Messi and Ronaldo would have never been important fixtures in their national teams 20 years ago, or season-long regulars at their clubs. I think this is quite possibly the worst batch of players in the history of the sport.

[Macunaíma]

The dominance of Real Madrid is one of the saddest things in European football in my opinion. Never liked them (mostly because of their history). The last years have been specially boring and predictable in the Champions League. Real deserved to win the match, though (even with the dirty tactics and all). I guess that just makes it still less exciting.

About the "americanisation" of competitions, try to do something about it. Football is much more than the sterile spectacle they try to shove us nowadays. Sorry if I offend anyone by saying this, but pop stars singing at the finals don't go along with what's expected to happen at such events: displays of strenght, resolve, courage, craftness, skill, and so on. It's a beautiful sport on its own, and such efforts to sell it as some big shiny party don't do it any good. So protect it, if you really like it. Here in South America we have now some efforts for "europeisation" of our competitions, as if the inferior revenue and audience was because of the competition format or having a BRAND or a THEME SONG or other stupid . All over the world it seems the same: entities that are mostly political destroying football for their shady reasons. FIFA, UEFA, Conmebol, there seems to be no exceptions. Sorry for the rant.

[Gallus]

I also think there is much less world class footballers then it was in the 90s and early 2000s.

It feels like it. When I look back at 2000-2005 squads I see at least a dozen teams full of legends. Back then getting to the semi final of the CL was a great success, because there were so many legendary teams. Now it seems that anything less than a trophy is a failure. But with the money invested in training and scouting nowdays the players should be better than they were 20 years ago. It doesn't make sense. Maybe training and tactics have advanced so much that there's not much difference between good and great players anymore, so the overall quality of the sport feels worse even though it's technically better. If that makes any sense. It is certainly less entertaining.

Twelve years ago the CL round of 16 was a highlight of my week. This year I only watched Real-Bayern (a very good matchup to be fair) and the final.

[Basil II the B.S]

The dominance of Real Madrid is one of the saddest things in European football in my opinion. Never liked them (mostly because of their history). The last years have been specially boring and predictable in the Champions League. Real deserved to win the match, though (even with the dirty tactics and all). I guess that just makes it still less exciting.

About the "americanisation" of competitions, try to do something about it. Football is much more than the sterile spectacle they try to shove us nowadays. Sorry if I offend anyone by saying this, but pop stars singing at the finals don't go along with what's expected to happen at such events: displays of strenght, resolve, courage, craftness, skill, and so on. It's a beautiful sport on its own, and such efforts to sell it as some big shiny party don't do it any good. So protect it, if you really like it. Here in South America we have now some efforts for "europeisation" of our competitions, as if the inferior revenue and audience was because of the competition format or having a BRAND or a THEME SONG or other stupid . All over the world it seems the same: entities that are mostly political destroying football for their shady reasons. FIFA, UEFA, Conmebol, there seems to be no exceptions. Sorry for the rant.

The problem with Americanization is that many teams don't care about winning anymore. One name above others, Arsenal. Arsenal is a team managed to make money, not win. As long as they sell t-shirts and tv contrats, they are good. Real Madrid at least still cares about winning.
Americanization aka commercialization is all about selling merchandise, to the point that mediocre players are pushed because they have a recognizable attire and sell t-shirts, you are from Brazil, you know what I mean. Same goes for all this crappy half time shows. One of the reasons I'm terrified about is when I hear about the creation of European Leagues like NBA or similar. That would be the end of football. Essentially 1-2 teams competing for the victory (and we are moving towards that, but this is the first time in the modern Champions Leauge there's a consecutive winner) and the rest just happy with making loads of money.

[Macunaíma]

I agree with you.