Has European football sold its soul?

The four champions league finalists are Manchester City, Paris San Germain, Chelsea and Real Madrid.

The first two clubs are literally owned by Gulf states with awful human rights records. Chelsea, the original oligarch team, are the possession of a corrupt Russian billionaire friend of Putin.

That leaves Real Madrid, the plucky underdog once described as the 'best embassy Spain ever had.' This was when Spain was run by Franco's dictatorship.

Unless you have massive money, you cant compete at the highest level and some of that money comes from some seriously dodgy places.

Next season, there will be more Champions League games as the groups are expanded. Which means more predictability and less drama. Crucially it means more guaranteed income for the biggest clubs.

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SW-User

Porto were probably the last winners that weren't in the rich club. I love the idea of plucky underdog Real Madrid 🤣

Kwek00 · 41-45, M

Hasn't a lot of the soul of a football team, gone to waste after Bosmans won his arrest? Which allowed it to become more and more a money game? This isn't new, it's just evolved since then point.

On the other hand, it does concentrate quality, which pushes people to a higher level. You can really see some good games with all the quality on the field. But it does destroy the soul of local teams, which have become nothing more then business that hire mercenaries at a high rate.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Kwek00 Yes, I completely understand why Bosman did what he did.

It would never have happened in England because we had a tribunal system at the time. An independent panel assessed a players value for tranfer fee when out of contract. It was a good compromise which protected club's assets and also allowed players freedom.

I think a bigger problem is foreign ownership. Especially im England, how big a club you are depends on the owner, not the fans. For example, City have a lot less fans than Liverpool or Arsenal but a lot more money.

Kwek00 · 41-45, M

@Burnley123 Yeah, well, even if it was ownership that wasn't foreign. Then they would still attract sponsors from big corporations to buy players. One way or another, there will always be money pouring in, because no one was just spending the money they get from supporters to buy their players in the first place.

Gangstress · 41-45, F

It did a while back,I don't know why I keep watching it tbf. Its just getting worse.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Gangstress Agreed.

Nyloncapes · 61-69, M

Money always talk in any sport, and probably same managers who agree with new format , the ones that banged on about winter break, and players playing to many games causing burn out what a joke, but they never minded taking players all around the world playing in big money friendlies

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Nyloncapes I agree on the money but I also think Klopp has a point about fixture congestion. Man City will. Probably end up playing over seventy games this season, excluding internationals and the Euros this summer.

Nomad7 · 22-25, M

Bayern won the last UCL and Liverpool before that. Madrid won 3 in a row before that, Barcelona were previous. And Madrid didn't win dogshit during their galactico era

It's the first time that it's dominated by big spending clubs. And Man City aren't just the money, Pep is the best manager in the world, arguably the greatest coach ever.
PSG are all about money, but they won't reach the final

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@Nomad7 I dunno how Real Madrid and Bayern don't count as big spending.

Of course Pep is a brilliant coach but im talking about something else. There is no way on earth he would have gone to the old Man City and no way he would have won anything if he had.

Nyloncapes · 61-69, M

Pep is a very lucky manager look at the 3 clubs he has managed, Barcelona , Bayern Munich, now Man City,

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

I now want PSG to win this as a lesser evil. FFS 🤣

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

Leave it to UEFA to destroy club football.

Neither the Champions League nor the Europa league has any credibility anymore.

Nyloncapes · 61-69, M

@Picklebobble2 don’t know how you can call it champions league finish 4 you go in it, all about the money , let’s go back like it was just league winners , no groups, and making sure big clubs kept apart these days

JoeyFoxx · 51-55, M

Maybe it’s time to bring back monarchies and war?

Kwek00 · 41-45, M

@JoeyFoxx 🙄

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