Guys, I'm curious to what most european soccer fans would rather have: winning the division or winning the champions league? As an example would a Chelsea or Manchester United fan rather win the premier league and lose in the round of 8 in the champions league or come in second or third in the premier league but win the champions league? I would think winning the league is prefered but I would like to get some opinions.
League stays no 1, all rivalries. Champions league is something extra. But when you win it you are happier than the league because winning the champions league is something you don't win every year, especially not in these days where money is a big factor. It's like fighting for a real horny girl every year with 18 teams. the winner can ******** her all year. and for the extra the winner can compete for a supermodel, but you ********ed the horny sexy bitch already
You're also happier because it happens more suddenly. A league championship you can see coming from a long way away. With 10 games to go the title race is usually down to just 2 or 3 teams and you have a good idea about your chances depending if you have a 5 point lead atop the table or are 5 points behind. In CL, you're essentially tied for first (and last) each time a new round commences. You can do everything right all season but ultimately it'll still come down to the last day and a few key plays.
I agree with Pablo and Bocafan. Prestigous = Champions League But, the main focus for any club in any league is to win their domestic title. Only when in the latter stages of the CL does that Tournament start to take on a greater importance for most clubs.
Is this a joke? Champions League anyday. Do you think Manchester United or Chelsea will rest their A team for a Champions league game to prepare for a EPL game? But the reverse always happens. For the top teams, Champions League is the ultimate prize. Always. For players, fans, coaches and owners. Rustom Abramovich spends his millions for winning the Champions League not for EPL titles.
As only a few teams can realistically win the Champions League, I would say winning the Domestic League is best; at least the team name is written down in the football history of their country. And for those teams that do have a chance of winning the Champions League, being in the next season's tournament is more important than being a Champions League runner-up.
Of course winning the Champions League is incredibly prestigious but you can't plan to win it. A domestic league you can plan and prepare to win for but the CL is a tourney where anything can happen. Incidentally nothing gives me more chills and excitement in professional sports than a Champions League match on a Tuesday night.
The Champions League is an extremely prestigious competition, but... at the end of the day, it's still a cup with all the arsyness and luck involved in that. There's much talk about the CL being the pinnacle of club competition, but does anyone regard the CL winner as the best team in the world that year? Answer: certainly not unless they win their domestic title as well. Ask Liverpool - if the CL winner doesn't do the double they're not even regarded as the best team in their country. The league is what you watch week in, week out. It's the main game, the reason for the season, without it nothing else exists. It's the true test of a team and no matter how many cups another side wins, the league champion is always regarded as better than all comers, because they've played all comers and come out on top. European Cups look better in the history books, but as a fan nothing beats the league title for knowing you're the best.
It does depend a bit. For instance Liverpool finished 5th in the league when they won in 2005 and were way off the pace. Plus they were pretty unconvincing en route to victory, as well as winning via a penalty shoot-out and miraculous 10 minutes. Compare that to Chelsea in 2008 who lost the league on the last day of the season. If they had won the final they'd have had a fair claim to being the best in the world despite not winning the league. I do agree though about the element of luck. The problem is that people rarely remember all that. For instance Real Madrid only won 2 league titles in their 5 year European Cup winning run 1956-60, but few would deny they are probably the greatest club team ever.
When people think about comparisons between great European teams, the European cups are the clincher. Of course, they are not the only thing but if any team had, say, 20 EC/CL cups then it would be obvious they had been historically the best team ever. As for leagues, well, how many clubs have 20+ leagues? It's true that regularly winning the league is more important than challenging once in a decade for the CL, but when you compare piece of silverware for piece of silverware then I have no doubt in my mind that the EC/CL is more important.
Usually it's the CL, but it can depend on what a club wants more: Liverpool: They've won the CL recently, but would love the PL even more. Chelsea: The exact opposite, they're desperate for a European crown. Milan: Won CL in 07, so I think Seria A is top priority this year. Porto: Their league is too easy, so it will always be Europe.
Exactly. By contrast whoever wins a domestic league you can safely say they've won it deservedly and have been the best side in it over the full season. Also the poor-rich divide in a domestic league will never be as big as it is in the CL (or European football in general).
The Dutch league is 'easy' too but to me as a Twente fan it's infinitely more important than the CL. As I've said before, domestic league football, that's what your every day life as a football fan is about. European football is like a day out, a holiday from your every day life.
I think it is more prestigious to win your league. Winning your league is something which takes nearly 40 games to accomplish and so it weeds out the possibility of a lucky winner. In cup competition, the "best" team could literally be knocked out early on due to poor luck, etc. Having said that, make no mistake, winning the Champions League is pretty f-ing prestigious as well.
Champions League by far. No one really cares if Chelsea or Bayern Munich wins another domestic title, but winning the Champions League puts you into a very select group of elite clubs, especially if you go far everytime. It's not all about luck, otherwise we wouldn't be seeing the same teams reach the last couple of rounds everytime: 2010 Internazionale 2-0 FC Bayern Munich 2009 FC Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United FC 2008 Manchester United FC 1-1 ns (6-5) Chelsea FC 2007 AC Milan 2-1 Liverpool FC 2006 FC Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal FC 2005 Liverpool FC 3-3 ns (3-2) AC Milan 2004 FC Porto 3-0 AS Monaco 2003 AC Milan 0-0 ns (3-2) Juventus 2002 Real Madrid CF 2-1 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2001 FC Bayern Munich 1-1 ns (5-4) Valencia Apart from 2004, these clubs consistently have a realistic shot at winning the title.
Except for the real fans. What you find is most fans of Real Madrid, Barca, Chelsea, Man United value the Champions League more because 95% of their fanbase are teenagers who have no real relationship with the club. They just want to see them win the CL final. Go to Madrid and ask the fan who've had season tickets at Bernabeu for 30 years what he values most. Real fans value the league. Gloryhounds value the Champions League.
No one is saying it's all about luck, as it takes a very good team to win the CL, but luck definitely plays a factor in tournaments. Obviously, strong teams will make it to the final rounds but getting favorable draws, favorable knockout round match paths, lucky goals/breaks/calls, etc. go a long way in knockout style tournaments.
Well, I'm looking at it from my point of view as a neutral fan. Chelsea winning the league is 'meh'. Chelsea winning the CL, that's impressive.