What cup? Europa league is NOT taken seriously by the EPL. As for sixth place Chelsea. They are now the 8th English club to have reached the CL final since 2004.
Weren't Chelsea meant to be destroyed against Barcelona by all the "experts"? What team in Seria A could even dream of knocking out Barcelona other than Milan. Udinese? Roma? Napoli? Juventus? Give me a break. Chelsea are the 6th best team in England and they did what Milan couldn't. The final as a one off game will be an easier game for Chelsea than the Barcelona games, even without the missing players.
Oh look, Chelsea gets through by a fluke and all the premier league fans come out of their caves to gloat, what a surprise Don't worry, Real Madrid will destroy you in the final.
What BS. Europa League is treated like the Carling Cup in England. Every day it's associated with the word "hindrance". Redknapp made it evident that he wasn't going to take that competition seriously and that finishing as high as he could in the Premiership was his main priority. He'd took the FA Cup more seriously. Mancini said he was jealous of Man Utd when asked the question of what he thought about their elimination. (before his own team were eliminated) UEFA IMO have destroyed that competition. It should have just stayed as the UEFA Cup and been a knockout competition now it's a mickey mouse competition.
No, they aren't. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool are the only ones that have been in the final since 2004. That's four clubs mate, not eight.
The fifth best team at the time in England won the Champions League in 2005. So it's no surprise that the sixth best team are now in the CL final. The same thing will most probably happen again within the next few years.
That's not what I meant. 2x Liverpool (2005) (2007) 3x Manchester United (2008) (2009) (2011) 2x Chelsea (2008) (2012) 1x Arsenal (2006) 8x altogether That 8 English finalists within 8 years. However four different clubs, which is still four times more than La Liga.
You said 8th English club which clearly implies that 8 different English clubs made it to the CL final since 2004 which is not the case.
Who started this thread in the first place? Barcelona had every advantage given to them in the first half. 2-0 up at home, Chelsea captain sent off, no centre backs, a dodgey penalty at the feet of the "best player in the world" If you can't win from that position easily, don't cry fluke.
Fluke... Or Karma? I'm sure Chelsea fans can remember the 2009 Semifinal, the 1-1 draw in which they had several valid penalty claims denied against Barcelona. Who went onto the Final. Barca I don't think have ever beaten Chelsea without them having a man sent off. Mostly draws or Chelsea win.
"They (La Liga and Premiership) are the two best leagues in the world but the English Premier League is more competitive." Christiano Ronaldo Dec 2011 "This is why I came here (in response to the Man Utd 4-4 Everton game). To be in the best league in the world" Johnny Heitinga April 24th 2012 (former Atletico Madrid player).
Well, thanks to Real Madrid and Barcelona, both reaching the CL semifinals yet again and contributing more than 60pts together, La Liga will start next season atop the UEFA coefficients. The 5-year country coefficient at the beginning of next season will be: season 08/09 epl 15.0 la liga 13.312 season 09/10 la liga 17.928 epl 17.828 season 10/11 epl 18.357 la liga 18.214 season 11/12 la liga 20.857 epl 15.125 season 12/13 la liga 0.00 epl 0.00 -- Total -- la liga 70.311 epl 66.410
You've missed out 2007/2008 in your calculations, the EPL is still top next year. England 84.285 Spain 83.900
unlucky. regardless of the final, epl stays in 1st place for this year. thats 16 times weve topped the stats for strongest league in european competition, which overtakes la liga at 15.
Yup, Spain is guaranteed another 0.3 points due to the all-Spanish EL final, but that won't be enough to make them #1. The Torres goal is what kept England on top.
He is right in saying that next year will begin that way. So England will need to get 4 full coefficient points higher than Spain next year to stay on top. Also, if Chelsea loses in the final, England will still be on top, but with these very close numbers: England: 84.285 Spain: 84.186 I always thought is strange that the coefficients don't give out an extra bonus point for winning the final.