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No but the only club to have won the title other than the big reputation European teams since 2010 is ChelseaQuote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
Granted it's speculative but City and PSG will do whatever it takes to break into that select elite.
The rest might threaten intermittently but will be on the outside looking in
If City and PSG fail to make the breakthrough that makes the ECL an even more elite competition
Consider this for a minute:
Of all the teams Kroenke owns, we are far and away the most successful when it comes to the performance of the team.
We aren't the first team he has taken from elite to mediocrity and if his other ventures are any sort of guide, we have a lot further to fall.
Wenger :bow:Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall Quinn
:run:
At least his other teams can't get relegated LMAO
Chelsea won the Champs league in 2012. Then Bayern in 2013, Real 2014, Barca 2015 and then Real back to back for 2016 and 2017.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
It's really just the two Spanish giants dominating. Nobody else. I wouldn't say it's closed door otherwise we'd see the same pattern with the bigger teams crushing the smaller each year. That's not the case.
Last season Juve beat Barca on their way to the final. In 2015 they kicked Real Madrid out.
Monaco knocked out Man City last season.
Atletico knocked out both Bayern and Barca in 2016 to get to the final. They took out Chelsea and Barca to make the final in 2014.
Dortmund knocked out Barca to make the final against Bayern.
You just wouldn't see these results if it were a closed door. It would be would always be a case of the richest and biggest teams in making it to the semis. Barca and Real having half of the worlds best players split between them is why they're so dominant. Freaks of football.
You can disagree as much as you like
Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Dortmund have all reached the final since 2009. All have knocked out big clubs in doing so.
None of them have won it, and this is what matters.
The two most elite clubs in Europe by some way are as you say Real Madrid and Barcelona. They have six of the last nine CL trophies between them, two of the three other clubs that won it in that period are Bayern Munich another club with historically massive reputation and Chelsea an oligarch club. If that's not a closed shop I don't know what is.
Barcelona have not done a good job of replenishing their ageing stars so that makes it even more elite going forward. And it's possible that PSG's 200 million on Neymar might make them close. And if you check the betting prices for the CL you will probably find Real and PSG with the shortest odds.
Newcastle, Aston Villa, Norwich, Blackburn all pushed United for the title in the 90s. Of the first five titles United won four, thus it was dominated by United. The same way the two Spanish Giants have dominated the champions league in the past decade.
No I can't :sulk:Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
If it were that much of a closed shop, we'd see a pecking order of richest all getting to the later stages and the poorest going out a lot earlier. Madrid and Barca are have half of the worlds best players spread between them. Ronaldo and Messi are freaks of nature. We're already seeing the Barca dominance fall apart and it's just a matter of time before we see the same with Real Madrid. Who knows what team will win it next but I wouldn't say it's a competition where you can just splash millions and win. City and PSG are examples. Same goes for Chelsea. They may win won but I can't see many others doing what we've seen under this Messi/Ronaldo era.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
Sigh....ok let me explain this using a different sportQuote:
Originally Posted by Delusions of Grandeur
Tennis in terms of the grand slams is largely a closed shop
There isn't always a pecking order as to who gets to the business end of the tournaments
Of the previous 59 grand slam tournaments played between 2003 and now, 47 have been won by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Of the eight Wimbledon titles Federer won, three times he played Andy Roddick in the final. In 2009 Roddick beat better players than himself to get to the final but he still ultimately came up short.
Murray has reached Five Australian open finals, on four of those occasions he has lost to Djokovic
Nadal between 2005 and 2017 has won ten of thirteen Roland Garros titles, Federer got to three consecutive finals against Nadal and came no closer to beating Nadal during those three games. But as an elite player he was able to profit in 2009 when an out of sorts Nadal was beaten in the fourth round by Robin Soderling who then reached the final only to be trounced by Federer.
Since 2003, Wimbledon has been won by Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray....the four players who have occupied the top four spots in the ATP rankings during that time. Phillipousis, Berdych, Raonic and Cilic have reached the finals in that time.
An unknown Marcos Baghdatis beat many, many higher seeds to reach the Aussie Open final in 2006, he even gave Federer a game for the first set and a bit but Federer triumphed in four seats.
So taking the other sport as an example, it doesn't end up with a structured pecking order. But with the exception of the odd outlier it tends to result in the cream rising to the top. Whether they end up beating each other or some plucky challenger.
Plus with the CL you have had Bayern and Real and Barca feature in the semi finals numerous times From 2009 to now Barca have been in five, Real in seven and Bayern in six
Dunno if anyone has seen or posted this yet. https://www.theguardian.com/football...s-angeles-rams