At last

In my eyes, all European tournaments have been severely devalued since the advent of teams who are not champions of their own country being invited to take part in the Champions League.

The incessant tinkering and manipulation of these tournaments to squeeze every last coin out of the punters who go along and support their teams also makes it a lot less watchable these days.
Been following football for over 40 years and cant even be bothered to watch this CL final on Saturday ( they've even changed it from wednesdays FFS!!!)

It is an entirely commercial enterprise now - designed to fill further the already overflowing coffers of the UEFA mandarins - nothing more nothing less.

Sorry, Fergus, but that is in tosh in my opinion. Are you saying that the competition was devalued through having Manchester United, Barcelona, AC Milan, etc, none of whom were champions of their league last year. The premier trophy for Europe should have the best teams and to leave out the teams I mentioned above for the winners of the leagues of, for example, Norway, or Bulgaria or Slovenia would do nothing to enhance the quality of the competition. I agree that finance is the main motivation, but I love the Champions League in its current format, and it pis ses me off when I hear this old, worn out response.

It's kind of like those people who hanker after music on vinyl, don't do HD tv, and would pour scorn on using an e-reader when there are proper books to be read.

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the winners of the leagues of, for example, Norway, or Bulgaria or Slovenia would do nothing to enhance the quality of the competition
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Why is quality of teams so important?

The idea of the champions league/European cup is to have the best teams from each country competing, it's not to have a cherry picked selection of the best teams in Europe playing each other.

Aesop
Do you think that the major sponsors of the CL – who pay huge amounts of money into the coffers of UEFA – do so because they like football?
The system of allowing clubs who are not champions of their own country into the Champions League is driven by one thing - sponsors giving UEFA money to advertise their products to the largest audiences on TV.

All the larger European countries therefore have, and will continue to have, more representatives in the CL.

UEFA fully embrace that, and knew that in time the current co-efficient system would promote this – to the detriment of the smaller European counties.

Isnt it UEFAs remit to promote the game throughout Europe, and not just in a few select areas?

It is quite simple really – I am saying that clubs who are not their national champions have no place in the Champions League. I don’t believe they have earned the right merely because their countries have more advertising outlets than other smaller nations.
That, in my opinion, is why it is devalued.
Hope that clarifies.

Just because you are tired if hearing this does not make worn out or any less valid.

I guess you are younger than I am as you make thinly veiled snide comments about vinyl music etc – but maybe all this new technology has blinded you to what is going on around you.

Fergus

I'm certainly not young and did not intend to come over as snide, but my point is that things move on. And I accept that if we are calling it the Champions League, then that is what it should be, so maybe the solution would be to have the champions league as is just now and call it something else, then have a TRUE champions league (straight knock out) only for champions. But the competition in its current format is enjoyed by an awful lot of people, and I don't see why it should be lost in order to satisfy the purists.

And Partick,

Why is quality so important? Really?

The draws for each round of the Champions League are embarrasing. They're like a well coreographed dance routines with the soul purpose of squeezing as much cash from the fixtures thus making it 10 times harder for the smaller clubs to advance through the competition.

Why not just fling everyone in the pot and draw the teams out. I suppose "sporting integrity" goes out the window the $$$$ are involved.

Because the integrity of the competition is more important in my opinion.

Damn billionaires have ruined football!!! Greedy Bassas.

jobby

Can understand the draws being managed to some extent with the current format of it beign what it is.

I know its hard to imagine this given our current second division status, but imagine Celtic playing Barca and Rangers playing Real Madrid, both at home, on the same night.

It'd be absolute bedlam in Glasgow!!

The same thing applies to clubs in the same cities all around Europe hence the need to manage the draw a bit.

Adds plenty of weight to the one team from one country argument that I suppose.....means you can fling all teams into the hat and just draw away