I like all the graphs and comparisons, but he could have summed it up in three bullets Shitty broadcast reach and often quality Crappy sponsorship deals Lack of stadium revenue
as much as i dislike liverpool (istanbul still angers me!) i dislike chelsea and man city more. i'd rather have the reds win the EPL.
Savicevic: "I agree with Garcia, the little help for Juve there have been" Speaking to Radio Sportiva, the former AC Milan soccer player Dejan Savicevic talked about many topics, including the championship fight and the verbal warfare between Garcia and Conte: "Juve in recent years is the strongest team of all others but this season has been pushed by the referees, already in the first ten days you could see how it would end. I agree with Garcia when he says that the referees have given help to Juve. @Dante @Falc @OldLady @phat Still cheating huh?? No surprise there. I have no sympathy for Roma though.
I know one thing Milan didn't help Juve one bit. Where are all the end of season PK's when you need them???
First 10 days huh, yeah, not too smart there but what do you expect from him? Garcia has already learned the Italian way, when your team is behind Juve, blame the refs!
Madrid winning in Munich, 2-0. 3-0 on aggregate. Looks like Real are going to their first final in over a decade. Unless Carlo screws this up!
that got out of hand quickly, but i'm more interested in tomorrow's match. i'd cheer chelsea or atleti over rm or bayern.
http://www.football-italia.net/48622/conte-benfica-dont-deserve-final Conte: 'Benfica don't deserve Final' Antonio Conte complained about the referee and Benfica time-wasting. “The team that least deserved it went through.” The Coach spoke to Sky Sport Italia after a 0-0 Europa League semi-final, which sent the Portuguese through thanks to their 2-1 first leg win. “What didn’t work was that we didn’t get that incident going our way. It’s a shame, as these games are right on the limit, Benfica obstructed us at every turn and the referee allowed them to do it. “He gave six minutes of stoppages when we were already three in without playing, so it took us for a ride,” said Conte of English referee Mark Clattenburg. “It’s a shame, as with two shots on target over two legs Benfica went through. Over the two games Juventus certainly deserved to go through. “I think Juventus gave all they had. It is an exciting, but also very exhausting season, because for the first time we’ve reached the final stages of European competition. “I don’t think we saw a team struggling to stay on its feet tonight. They ran from the first to the 95th minute. It was a strong performance, we didn’t get the lucky moment we needed to change the game, so in that sense Benfica were more fortunate. “It was a real pity, as in the first leg there was a red card and penalty for the elbow on Chiellini, while tonight there was an obvious penalty not given. The team that least deserved it went through. “You just have to look at the statistics. Benfica had two shots on target over two legs. That was it. They have international experience and showed it tonight, as down to 10 men they stopped us playing and I am truly disappointed the referee allowed them to get away with that.” Can't believe this idiot is blaming the referees. What a classless piece of shit.
So Liverpool were winning by three goals then concede three out nowhere. I've seen this type of collapse before!
I thought I enjoyed the Chelsea lesson that Brendan Rogers was taught at Anfield, but the Crystal Palace match was even better...what a week..Juve chok against Benfica because no Italian refs to save them, then we beat Inter where they classlessly fail to honor Zanetti, and now this. Sure, Milans year has been awful, but I like the silver linings...no more Allegri, dead weight that will finally be cut for next year, and if we don't make Europe, better for us to just concentrate domestically...worked well for Liverpool!
horncastle on juve: http://www.espnfc.com/blog/_/name/calcioitaliano/id/391?cc=5901 he makes an interesting point that leads to the following conclusion: if juve continue to focus on the league and crash out in europe, they will not be able to increase revenue on a global scale like the big clubs are doing. italy may know about juve's 3 consecutive scudetti, but they're not going to attract fans, and sponsorship cash more importantly, outside of italy unless they're doing well in europe too. with ffp coming into effect, they need to expand their revenue to have money to spend. global brands aren't going to give them the sponsorship money that big clubs get if they don't get the big time european exposure. so while they've dominated italy for the last three seasons, perhaps that dominance hasn't gained them any advantage against the other big clubs in europe or even the other big clubs in italy.