I think the 1st rd is a complete waste of time. There's all these matches to play with teams that are completly the opposite of each other in the ranks. I watched the Barcalona match today. Quality team of course and as everyone know. However, teams like SKM Puchov should (honestly) not be entered into the competition. I personally believe that the UEFA cup has EVERY potential to be just as exciting as the CL, without having to wait for the 3rd round. They need to cut the amount of teams WAY down and have more quality in there. It's appauling. and as soon as I finish typing....Barcalona make it 8-0. PATHETIC. This is supposed to be the best of EUROPE. C'mon now.
le doh! They are not considered le best of Europe, le best of Europe play in the champions league. Barcelona is not le usual team for uefa cup football, they had le bad season last year which resulted in them playing in this le cup, but that does not mean they will play as badly this season. This is le champions league worthy team playing in le uefa cup, of course they will be better than most of le opposition they will face in le first round or after. Support le campaign 2003: le Hamatachi for moderator! https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=77349
I don't think so! Every team has a chance at start, at least they must have a chance to appear in European arena. I am sure you would vote Groclin Grodzisk or Dnipro not to be accepted to the tournament, but they eliminated Hertha Berlin and Hamburg. You can't expect quality in this round. Watch the UC after third round. Also, Blackburn-Gençlerbirliði was a quality match. I enjoyed it.
No, they shouldn't get rid of the first round, because then we couldn't see teams from the big leagues get knocked on their @$$es by the small teams from God knows where. That's the beauty of the game. 1st round victims: Blackburn Rovers (Eng) Hertha Berlin (Ger) Hamburg SV (Ger) Udinese (Ita) That's why they play the game.
good call, n00bie deluxe, I was about to post the exact same thing. Hamburger must be wondering what happened to them today. Every tournament has small teams. That's the very nature of a tournament. Remember the Concacaf Giants Cup from a few years ago? They dragged some Caribbean teams straight off the beach. Ever watch the NCAA's? In case you didn't notice, those aren't exactly the 64 best teams in the country. I would suggest not even holding a tournament, and just declaring the number 1 seeds to be co-national champions. Everyone knows there are never any upsets, right? Next time you have a bright idea, Pottertons, keep it to yourself. I like how you used the single most extreme example to "prove your point". I guess you skipped that Roma match today, huh? They certainly had an overwhelming victory against their minnows, didn't they?
if they are wondering, i can tell them... they got outworked, outplayed and thrown out on their collective ass outstanding show by one of the mini-mites though - my girl was very excited as she is ukrainian
I couldn't disagree more. The champions league set itself up to be a showcase of the best teams in Europe. The UEFA cup is a purer cup competion open to ALL European countries. To bar teams from competing because they aren't up to it defeats the object of the whole competition. Normally the very weak teams get knocked out in the qualifying rounds, but some are bound to get through. For such a team getting one of the big sides in the draw is what they dream of. Of course people will look at the 8-0 scoreline and just assume Puchov are rubbish. As Puchov are currently bottom of the slovakian league it's likely that the team that qualified was better than the current one, but if they are that bad a team then how did they manage a 1-1 draw in the first leg? While there clearly was a talent gap in the match, a lot of credit needs to go to Barcelona for a great display. It was a lesson in breaking down a defensive team - only one of the 8 goals could be put down to a mistake. Puchov actually competed reasonably well in the first half. The third goal, right on the stroke of half time, really knocked a lot of spirit out of the side, and the 4th, 15 minutes into the 2nd half, caused a few heads to drop. In a strange way I'm sure the puchov fans who made the journey to the Nou Camp enjoyed their evening (as did I) as long as they weren't among those getting soaked on the three uncovered sides.
What is the first round of any cup competition about if it isn't about diddy teams going up against (and sometimes beating) the more established teams ? I can't think of anything worse than denying teams like that a shot of upsetting the odds.
I once thought as you do, Pottertons, but after reviewing the other replies I've come to realize that your wrong. Every team should have a chance to upset the big boys and the Barcelona match and other 1st round games are no exception. I've been confused for years about UEFA, Champions League, Cup Winners Cup, etc. because we don't have adequate coverage here in the states. If someone out there wants to take the time to explain all this to me and how the competition works, I would be greatly appreciative. Some of these replies have clarified some of this, I'm still not sure what the status of winning uefa means or what Champions League represents. My understanding is that Champions league is the best of the best from each European league, but what is UEFA?
red star belgrade used to be those teams that every one wondered where did they come from and 11-12 years ago they built up the team and won the europe so every one needs a chance to provve them self even the little teams.
UEFA Cup I would argue that the present structure of the tournament with the qualifying rounds means that there are far fewer mismatches than there used to be twenty years ago, so Uefa have compromised somewhat. This of course means that the smaller teams are less likely to have a glamour tie, but Pottertons seems to think that teams who are not worthy of holding their own against a big team should not be allowed to enter. If he had his way the UEFA cup would therefore only be open to clubs who are from the big four leagues (EPL, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A).
The way I see it: Win your league, compete in UEFA. That way, there's more pressure to win the league than finish 4 in England and beat a champion of the Bulgarian league.