Champions League 2016-17

[Vermilion]

Claude isn't as good without the little fella poking him in the ribs every 5 seconds.

[Buzzo]

fackin wenger blud you wiv me brap brap fam innit now

[PTP]

It's the repeat ties for me, caused by the seeding obviously. Just have a free for all. Obviously they want to ensure "big" finals every year but if the top sides are good enough they'll reach the final regardless of who they draw and when.

I'm not sure a 'free for all' would change much, if you mean in a group fashion you'd have some of the worst group imaginable and the repeat draws we dislike at an earlier stage and even then they could repeat in the later stages, causing even more of them.

To me it just doesn't feel as special any more but I'm not sure why, maybe its age, maybe it us not being competitive for years. Personally I think its the longevity of the tops sides, cycles didn't seem to last this long. When we beat Madrid 5-1 on aggregate it felt really special, but their team was really poor, compare that to under Rodgers when they had a great team it felt dampened.

We've had the Italians dominate, the English sides have a few years stint at the top mixed with the tiki-taka Barcelona side and Madrid always being glamorous. It feels like an age though since anyone but Madrid/Barca or Bayern were dominant. Chelsea are the only side to win it outside of them in 6 years and I don't think many will argue they were lucky, this season it feels likely to be 7 years.

Just going back to this debate

I think a major part of this is because we are not in it.

Then the games being moved off terrestial to BT makes it not accessible for a lot of people (me certainly, I can get BT via an app on kodi and it's a decent picture but sometimes its a bit fiddly).

But yeah I remember looking forward to champions league games. I'd watch a game every Tuesday/Wednesday, I remember struggling to pick which game to watch....and then i'd watch the highlights for all the other games. I did this throughout all the group games and knockout stages.

This week i'd completely forgotten about it - haven't watched a second and not seen any goals. It was only seeing people ripping on Arsenal on twitter last night that made me check what happened.

That said I don't know if that's down to a change in me/my life or down to the competition being poorer or just purely because football has gone into overkill - i'd say its a bit of all these things

A few years ago I watched everything - Sutton Utd vs Carlisle on a Thursday night - stick it on Me and mates would be texting each other - "you watching Brentford in the FA CUP 1st round, it's just gone to pens" etc

I feel nowadays, its like we've been completely saturated with football. You can now watch pretty much any game, anywhere in the world, live, in your own living room. And whilst this is a good thing and I shouldn't complain about it, has it taken something away?

For a start, only a few years back for example, say Chelsea are playing Arsenal on BT Sport on a Saturday at 12:30pm - big game, worth watching, loads of us would all go the pub and watch it.......the same with Liverpool/Everton 3pm games on dodgy satellites, everyone darting from pub to pub trying to find the game. We'd all be looking forward to it.

Now - everyone can just roll out of bed, switch the tele on, play around a little bit and then watch the game without having to even get dressed, never mind speak to anyone else, drink or leave the house

We now have had spells where there has been live football on Mon/Tue/Wed/Thur/Fri/Sat/Sun

I love football - but is that not getting too much?

I used to watch Sky Sports News daily - sometimes just sitting there with it on for hours repeating itself

can't remember the last time I watched the channel now.

Anyway that's moved me off a little on "is the CL boring/poor"

I think that plays a part, but I defo do think if we were in it and competiting into the knockout stages we'd be loving it

[RedProf]

So much of what you say rings true with me and my mates. We used to all meet in the pub on a Wednesday night for whatever footy was on for a few pints.

The ability to watch it all on streams is definitely a factor as is getting older. Most of them have kids now so time is at a premium.

[Buzzo]

They have to abandon the seedling system. It's so ****ing dull.

They basically rig the tournament each year to ensure the top teams are separated meaning they all stay in the tournament longer and win the most cash.

I used to love the CL too but it's rubbish now. I also hate the splitting of the ties to ensure that every game is covered. It would be nice to see a couple of teams who've not won it get to the finals this year and at least Barca look like they will bomb out.

[Roboklopp]

Agree with a lot of that PTP. I have BT, but it's often an effort changing the channels so high () and when you know your Dad & mates probs ain't watching there's less reason to cos you ain't gonna be able to share it with them when you talk.

Also, now they've spread the CL knockouts so thinly, there's no real sense of occasion and you defo lose track of / stop caring about when things are on.

[Alex]

I think it comes down to accesss. Before I used to watch it all the time on ITV/SKY. Now as I dont have BT Sport I dont care about it, even half as much. It going behind a paywall has killed interest in it for me. But a couple of years back Barca v PSG on ITV would have been something I watched and looked forward too.

Its gotten even greedier with the quest for money, that people who enjoy it are taken away from it. **** em. Ill stick with not having Sky or BT Sport and watching FA Cup games and MOTD on BBC.

[Irishnev]

So much of what you say rings true with me and my mates. We used to all meet in the pub on a Wednesday night for whatever footy was on for a few pints.

The ability to watch it all on streams is definitely a factor as is getting older. Most of them have kids now so time is at a premium.

This is the reason + you just get older and care a little less. Liverpool losses used to kill me, ruin my week, now they annoy me for the day and something else I have going on takes over.

I used to watch any game particularly Spanish + Italian football as well as the Prem League, rugby, golf, cricket, tv, movies, video games....play football, golf, cycle, hike etc etc all fitted in around work.

Now I do shopping, jobs at home, do stuff with the kids and I barely see my old buddies anymore. I still play football, cycle go to the gym and manage this around life so the "watching stuff" falls by the way side.

[Irishnev]

I think it comes down to accesss. Before I used to watch it all the time on ITV/SKY. Now as I dont have BT Sport I dont care about it, even half as much. It going behind a paywall has killed interest in it for me. But a couple of years back Barca v PSG on ITV would have been something I watched and looked forward too.

Its gotten even greedier with the quest for money, that people who enjoy it are taken away from it. **** em. Ill stick with not having Sky or BT Sport and watching FA Cup games and MOTD on BBC.

Get Kodi!

[Leyton388]

Bayern Munich 5 Arsenal 1 | Arsene Wenger Is Extinct! (Explicit) - YouTube

Bayern Munich 5 Arsenal 1 | The Club Is Rotten (Explicit Rant) - YouTube

Bayern Munich 5 Arsenal 1|Has Someone Kidnapped Danny Welbeck? asks Claude - YouTube

That's just made my day.



"Yeah blood yeah Bruv"

Absolute whopper.

[Roboklopp]

That's just made my day.



"Yeah blood yeah Bruv"

Absolute whopper.

He's got a son FFS! Should've never been allowed to happen.

[red g]

this Mbappe looks some player.......1-2 Monaco.

[Roboklopp]

Shame.

[Roboklopp]

**** pen.

Otter Monday.

[red g]

And you think we have problems defensively