Official Football Thread

Ajax had the best chances because of the better goal soldo but PSV won the title! And it happened after the last matches were played. What an amazing last day. Ajax played against the one but lowest ranked club, which couldn't move another place, so essentially they couldn't gain or loose anything. Still Ajax was not able to win!

De Graafschap - Ajax: 1-1!!

PSV won their last match so a huge fest erupted in Eindhoven since this championship came very unexpected. Ajax led the competition all the time, apart from January til March.

Here the goal that denied Ajax the title:

Watch the final minutes as Ajax loses the title to PSV:

This was the expected reaction in Rotterdam (who are more against-Ajax than against-PSV):
 
Bayern just signed Hummels and Renato Sanches this morning. Latter came out of nowhere, everyone was saying he was going to go to Man Utd :O
 
So, Man Utd managed to say "no thanks" to the lifeline handed them by Arsenal. Despite leading 2-1 against the Hammers. Complacency at 2-1 and stupid errors in defense? 'Cause you knooow, that you've seen it before ...

Europa League, here we come ...
 
Can I ask a question of the football fans here: for the average European, what's more important for your favourite association football team - winning the league, or success in something like Champion's Cup or the Europa League?
 
I think it depends on who you ask. For fans of clubs who are used to winning the domestic league, I'm sure winning the Champions League ranks higher, because it is the only place whereyou face the best from other leagues.

The Europa League is a "rest of the best" tournament for teams from the big leagues, I think everyone following a Spanish, English, German, or Italian club would rate the league title higher. For clubs from most other countries, I guess winning the EL would rank above the domestic league.
 
Definitely depends who you ask and what club they support. For me, playing good football in the league is most important. Being part of European cups is unlikely and running in tournaments outside of league matches puts a strain on a smaller club's performance in the league.
 
LooseCannon said:
Can I ask a question of the football fans here: for the average European, what's more important for your favourite association football team - winning the league, or success in something like Champion's Cup or the Europa League?
Click to expand...

I think Champions League is the most important title for any club. A good example for the importance of CL is Italy. Juventus has 32 domestic titles to Milan's 18. You'd think Juve would be considered the more successful club by a country mile. But Milan's 7 CL titles to Juve's 2 put them on balance.

As Wingman explained, Europa League is a different story. Bigger leagues (Spain, England, Germany, Italy, France) value their domestic title more. This, however, is not the case for the rest of the bunch. For example, in Turkey, even when Fenerbahçe was two championships ahead of Galatasaray in the championship count in mid 2000s, Galatasaray was still easily considered the more successful club because of their Europa League and Super Cup titles in 2000.
 
Last edited:
Thanks very much! Obviously, North American soccer follows the same sort of league structure used in the Big 4 North American sports, and although there are individual tournaments to determine the best team from Canada and the US, it is not considered notable here by most people who follow soccer.
 
Alexis Sanchez rumoured to be unhappy at Arsenal because of the club's "lack of ambition". Wouldn't blame him if he left, honestly. Same story for almost a fucking decade now. Doesn't help that the majority owner comes out and says that he doesn't care about winning. Arsene is probably gonna come out and say some bullshit like "Look, I just want my players to be grateful for playing in a Top 4 club in Premier League." Then Alexis leaves and Arsene goes "We have quality players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott". Fuck me.
 
Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
I think it depends on who you ask. For fans of clubs who are used to winning the domestic league, I'm sure winning the Champions League ranks higher, because it is the only place whereyou face the best from other leagues.
Click to expand...
I think you can add the European League for such clubs. When they are used to win at home, but fail to do well outside their league, then the other prizes become more rare, thus more special.
 
Last edited:
Well, I'm not so sure. For the top clubs in the top leagues, failing to qualify for the Champions League will be a failure in itself. Of course, if they're in the EL they'll appreciate winning it.

As a fan of Man Utd, I'd surely wanted them to win the EL once they were out of the CL, but after two disappointing years the league title would count more - at least to me.
 
Well, when a club fails to qualify for CL, it could be argued that the club isn't a top club anymore. It depends a bit on how we define that.

Apart from that discussion, there's playing a European League (CL or EL) and winning a European League (CL or EL).

When a club plays Champions League and is out in the QF or even SF, you betcha that compared to this, winning the EL ranks higher.

When the EL is won, suddenly not winning that domestic title last year, isn't that important anymore.

Probably, fans from a club who vividly remember their club winning a EL or e.g. an old school UEFA Cup, hold such a victory higher in regard than fans from clubs who couldn't run a piss-up in a brewery internationally, for a long time at least.
 
I don't understand how Sunderland somehow figures out a way to stay in the league. How many years in a row is it now, 4?
 
They've done this so many times over the years. They have a habit of being sloppy all season then rallying towards the end. Either that or they've played a few sides recently which have run out of steam towards the end of the season. Sunderland are so inconsistent. They really need to do something before next season, or not only will they be going down, they'll treat fans to a full season of poor football, too.

Contrary to expectation, I'm unhappy about Newcastle going down. At least Middlesbrough are on their way up.
 
Forostar said:
Well, when a club fails to qualify for CL, it could be argued that the club isn't a top club anymore. It depends a bit on how we define that.
Click to expand...

Well, I doubt any club would stop seeing themselves as a top club based on one poor season (as in failing to qualify for the CL) or two. And the definition of top club is besides the point anyway, if we're discussing what fans find more important. Fans will certainly not stop seeing their favourite club as a top club based on a poor season.

But winning the EL compared to making the QF in the Champions League? Well, certainly most would prefer the former.
 
Dortmund won the race for Ousmane Dembele. Huge signing. They now made leeway for a possible Aubameyang exit. Dembele is an immense talent. And rumours say they did it for 15 million only, that's a bargain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top