Serutan
Eatibus Anythingibus
Since we're discussing comedy, this August has seen the sitting president of FIFA cleared of any wrongdoing by the committee FIFA appointed.
Fancy that...
Since we're discussing comedy, this August has seen the sitting president of FIFA cleared of any wrongdoing by the committee FIFA appointed.
Crazy game at Emirates Stadium right now.
Absolutely, the Arsenal game was utter madness... When will they ever actually be 'ready' for a season?? Always 'missing a little bit sharpness' or something, according to Wenger...
Yes, this is the problem. They were held back after 2006 while other clubs surged ahead. Now they'd need to put in a couple hundred millions to be serious contenders for the Champions League, having to fight PSG, City, Chelsea as well as Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich how do you compete against those budgets? Notice that FFP does not force the already-enriched clubs to, well, disarm for want of a better word. The last time Arsenal got far in the CL was a semifinals appearance in 2009.I think they've reached a bit of a balance in terms of what they achieve each season, how much money that brings in, and how much money was spent to make all that happen. It seems to be a matter of diminishing return for them - they are a moderately successful club, even if they don't really win many trophies (lately). They're constantly in the top 4 in the Premier League and do decently in the Champions League each season.
Sometimes it's better for a mid-range team to get drawn with Barcelona or Bayern or another such big club who can realistically be expected to do 13 points or more in the group; this means that the other clubs get squat and all you have to do is edge them out at home games. 3-1-2 or 3-0-3 and you're through to the knockout stages where you can speculate on away goals (see Juventus in 201415).Standard rigged draw. Guardiola to play Barcelona, Ronaldo to play Lisbon. Arsenal to play PSG, Leicester and Spurs protected from the really big fish (though Group E is sneaky hard). Any of those things might happen by chance, but all of them? Not bloody likely.
The new Pot 1 rule let UEFA turn Group B and Group G into dumping grounds like we've never before seen. And have fun in Group C, guys. Sucks to be Celtic.
Please, when has the glorious Real Madrid Football Club ever had a favourable draw except in, say, every knockout stage the last two times they won the trophy?As always, Madrid gets a rather comfortable group. On the other hand only City seems to be a strong enough contender to Barça in Group C.
Winning the EL also qualifies for CL, right?