skybluedave

Most smaller nation leagues are like that anyway. Regardless of an automatic CL group stage spot zas reward. It's usually worse then Spain, England and Italy in terms of the same old team wining their league.

I just want to see more chances given to smaller nations in the CL proper.

Richie P

Not if the past is anything to go by, our league was never this predictable 5-10 years ago for example, we'd have different clubs in the Champions League each year

The problem is that it's creating a multiple (four team) status quo whereby teams can pretty much guarantee qualifying for the Champions League each year and spend accordingly. Reduce that status quo again and it'll soon be more difficult to predict our league for example and clubs won't be able to budget off that.

The other problem with the Champions League at the moment is how the moeny is distributed. For example Porto can win the thing but still get much less money from UEFA and TV than say Manchester United who lose in the last 16. Their needs to be a redistribution of income

Meitheisman

The smaller nations already get their chance, through the qualifs. If they don't make it then it means they're not good enough. What I don't understand is why you'd rather have a proven weaker team in the CL just because it's based out of another country.

Richie P

No they don't, they don't get seeded, whereas most fourth placed teams do so they end up playing the likes of Liverpool and Valencia in the qualifiers, so basically they have no chance. It's a vicous circle and they aren't proven weaker teams if you go further than the history of the last 5 years or so.

Meitheisman

They don't get seeded so they have to play big teams? But if the said smaller teams got seeded and not the big teams it would be the same matches anyway.
Whether the match is Liverpool vs Praga and Liverpool is seeded or Liverpool vs Praga and Praga is seeded the result would be the same.
Anyway do you suggest getting rid of the seedig system or seeding the champions of smaller leagues?

Meitheisman

How many years do you want to go back?
As far as I know (except for the odd exception every once in a while which doesn't happen anymore for financial reasons and not football reasons) it's always been big teams winning the CL.
Wikipedia CL winners

Italy 11 winners
Spain 11
England 10
Germany 6
Holland 6
Portugal 4
...
Any other nation only won it once and as far as I know the champions from these 6 leagues automatically gets in the group stage.

masteR+_+

That's the whole point.. Too much money pumping into the richest countries' sides and too few foreigner restrictions means these clubs can actually build World XIs while the other countries' ones are increasingly getting no chance at all.

Meitheisman

But you can change the format of the CL as many times as you want it won't make Slovenia as rich as England is. That's where the problem is, it's a political/economical problem, football comes way after and cannot do anything until these smaller countries become richer.

Meitheisman

Oh and no, communism doesn't work, it's been proven throughout history so don't even start telling me that the rich league should subsidize the poor leagues by giving them more money to make it even.

Plus look at the CL history, almost no teams from smaller nations ever won it and that was way before money was as important as it is today.

ericcantona7

erm I don't want to bring politics and economics into it but history has not proved that communism doesn't work, as it has never existed fwiw.