⚽UEFA Champions League Discussion Thread -- 2021/22 winner - Real Madrid!

[jayce]

And as @jayce, there is too many unneccesary games which requires travelling around the world, like ICC, friendly games in Asia, USA. And some less important tournaments isn't that needed, like League Cup, where teams like Liverpool play with youth squad. Nobody cares about this tournament, but it's still played, mainly for TV money.

Can't say it's less important matches tho because these games mean a lot for those who cant afford to fly to Europe watching their fave team directly with their own eyes. So when the teams come to their country, the stadium will be crowded no matter which players gonna play in the match.

It turns out that the infected in Turkey are quite large too but in Europe Turkey is probably one of the few with Covid-19 infection so that the final UCL was chosen in Istanbul.

Istanbul was chosen as the final venue few months ago before lockdown. And the Covid-19 case there is still quite high actually. But they have been preparing everything for the matchday, so moving the venue to somewhere else would lead to big loss for the venue organizer and they wouldn't accept just like that.

[sportbettor]

About the dates that are circulating, we must take them with big caution.
In these days Lyon has spoken twice yesterday and once today.
Yesterday they said "when we will play against Juventus on August 7th we will be destroyed due to the different preparation", in France the championship has been canceled while in Italy it will probably start again, nothing certain but that is the intention.

Today they spoke again confirming that the date sent yesterday is not yet official so it is not said that the Champions League will actually start again on 7 August 2020, the intention is that but it is not known yet how things will go from here to three months.

I think that soon everything will fall into place. An example of the only ongoing Belarus football Championship in Europe demonstrates that the problem with coronovirus is greatly exaggerated. In addition, they continue to hold the national championship with the presence of spectators in the stands, without any restrictions for them. Therefore, there is a high probability that all European championships will continue soon, including the Champions League.

[tokeweed]

I wonder how will it affect the transfer market and the actual contracts.

Imagine for example the Coutinho case. What if he leaves Bayern in the summer transfer market? There are many similar cases, players' contracts running out, players wanting to move between clubs, clubs deciding who to buy based on their CL performances and prize money etc.

If they are postponing the CL, they should postpone the start of the transfer market as well. Otherwise, some of the decisions (Coutinho as a perfect example) might be weird.
Imagine if Chelsea buys Coutinho, he would end up playing one leg for Bayern and another one for Chelsea. Quite bizarre.

Pretty sure UEFA will amend the rules given the current situation.  I don't think the clubs would even think about forcing the issue. 

[coinfinger]

There is something quite small that would probably be fixed very soon but we shouldn't forget. There are many nations who closed their borders as well, so lets say one player from one of those nations are bought for a lot of millions of dollars, how is he going to leave that nation and go to other nation that bought him?

So, that is something serious as well, I know there will be a resolution for it since it is not commercial and not bringing hundreds of people together constantly and only one person but it is still quite real trouble right now. Since the leagues are postponed, I think transfer windows should be postponed as well, most teams take care of it before the window and just make it official during the first day anyway, so not like they don't know who they are going to get already.

[LTU_btc]

I wonder how will it affect the transfer market and the actual contracts.

Imagine for example the Coutinho case. What if he leaves Bayern in the summer transfer market? There are many similar cases, players' contracts running out, players wanting to move between clubs, clubs deciding who to buy based on their CL performances and prize money etc.

If they are postponing the CL, they should postpone the start of the transfer market as well. Otherwise, some of the decisions (Coutinho as a perfect example) might be weird.
Imagine if Chelsea buys Coutinho, he would end up playing one leg for Bayern and another one for Chelsea. Quite bizarre.

Yeah, it's interesting situation, especially because national will resume and end in different time. For example Bundesliga this weekend, while EPL or La Liga somewhere in June. Probably transfer window will be moved to August or September. But it's interesting what they will do with expiring contracts.
But even if Coutinho will move to Chelsea, I doubt that UEFA rules will allow him to play for Chelsea this season.

Can't say it's less important matches tho because these games mean a lot for those who cant afford to fly to Europe watching their fave team directly with their own eyes. So when the teams come to their country, the stadium will be crowded no matter which players gonna play in the match.

Yeah, this matches means a lot for local fans, but still, it's just friendly games, not official tournaments. It's easier to cancel it than Champions league and it won't cost that much.

[cryptofrka]

Since the leagues are postponed, I think transfer windows should be postponed as well, most teams take care of it before the window and just make it official during the first day anyway, so not like they don't know who they are going to get already.

You have another problem then, the new players do not do pre-season training/preparations with their new clubs. Imagine paying 100 million for a player that comes to your club at the beginning of the season with 15 extra pounds.
In any case, there will be some issues. Either with contracts/transfers regarding players who are playing CL or with clubs furious because their transfers are not arriving on time.

[3meek]

Another confirmation that UEFA Champions League will start soon, in August, from Marca: https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2020/05/09/5eb7152f22601d29218b45c8.html
Lyon will play with Juve in Turin on August 7.
Hopefully, nothing will change until then 
Really, can't wait to see CL again on TV, what about you?

DRAFT CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CALENDAR (according to Marca):

7 August: Juventus-Lyon; Manchester City-Real Madrid (Round of 16 second legs)
8 August: Bayern-Chelsea; Barcelona-Napoli(Round of 16 second legs)
11-12 August: Quarter-finals first leg
14-15 August: Quarter-finals second leg
18-19 August: Semi-finals first leg
21-22 August: Semi-finals second leg
29 August: Final (Istanbul)

It would be great to see these matches in August! Let's hope the pandemic stops! Three months to recover is a good time!

I will bet on Juventus winning the match against Lyon!

[Daniel91]

Another confirmation that UEFA Champions League will start soon, in August, from Marca: https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2020/05/09/5eb7152f22601d29218b45c8.html
Lyon will play with Juve in Turin on August 7.
Hopefully, nothing will change until then 
Really, can't wait to see CL again on TV, what about you?

DRAFT CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CALENDAR (according to Marca):

7 August: Juventus-Lyon; Manchester City-Real Madrid (Round of 16 second legs)
8 August: Bayern-Chelsea; Barcelona-Napoli(Round of 16 second legs)
11-12 August: Quarter-finals first leg
14-15 August: Quarter-finals second leg
18-19 August: Semi-finals first leg
21-22 August: Semi-finals second leg
29 August: Final (Istanbul)

It would be great to see these matches in August! Let's hope the pandemic stops! Three months to recover is a good time!

I will bet on Juventus winning the match against Lyon!

UEFA still didn't confirm this schedule, it's news from Marca.
Any way,  August is last chance and possibility for UEFA to finish CL and EL this year.
Let's hope the best.

[$crypto$]

UEFA still didn't confirm this schedule, it's news from Marca.
Any way,  August is last chance and possibility for UEFA to finish CL and EL this year.
Let's hope the best.

If the leagues have started competing again then UEFA will immediately confirm about the CL match schedule in August, because currently seeing the current situation then they are still looking for solutions in the best scheduling.

And certainly this season all leagues will be finished including CL and EL in August as the rumors circulated.

[jayce]

Yeah, this matches means a lot for local fans, but still, it's just friendly games, not official tournaments. It's easier to cancel it than Champions league and it won't cost that much.

If it's me, I'd choose to not let them play those tournaments too. But because of financial crisis clubs are suffering now, they might still try to get play there since the fee that offered is quite high. Imagine, a Champions League winner for this season could get approximately €80M in total^[1] by playing in a whole season, while in International Champions Cup, the most popular team during the tournament could get $20M^[2] by just playing few games only. Sounds like an easy money I think. But yeah there is absolutely no chance to have the pre-season tournaments played after current season end.




^{[1] https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2019/07/11/5d27616646163f138c8b45aa.html
[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmahon/2019/07/16/2019-international-champions-cup-what-you-need-to-know/}

[LFC_Bitcoin]

My interest in the CL has taken a nose dive since we (Liverpool) got knocked out. For sporting integrity though it must be completed. The show must go on, I don’t mind who wins it but I don’t want Man City to

[leea-1334]

Since the leagues are postponed, I think transfer windows should be postponed as well, most teams take care of it before the window and just make it official during the first day anyway, so not like they don't know who they are going to get already.

You have another problem then, the new players do not do pre-season training/preparations with their new clubs. Imagine paying 100 million for a player that comes to your club at the beginning of the season with 15 extra pounds.
In any case, there will be some issues. Either with contracts/transfers regarding players who are playing CL or with clubs furious because their transfers are not arriving on time.

Which is why I do not think any club will pay for that kind of transfer without making other deals in the contract stipulations,,, I feel like a lot of clubs will force the parent clubs to take a big discount on fees, or the agent will have to take smaller cuts.

I bet there will be plenty of "overweight" players. Remember Lukaku going to Inter? This was not even with lockdown.

[Upgrade00]

I bet there will be plenty of "overweight" players.

Most clubs are still playing their personnel, so I doubt they would let them get overweight. I once read an article on how Arsenal uses GPS tracker to monitor the activities of their players. Players as well should have access to top training facilities even in the comfort of their homes and would also be in regular contact with club trainers.

[Bitcoin_Arena]

My interest in the CL has taken a nose dive since we (Liverpool) got knocked out. For sporting integrity though it must be completed. The show must go on, I don’t mind who wins it but I don’t want Man City to

I enjoy UCLfrom season to season even if my team gets eliminated in the earlier stages. It's sad that everything had to stop just as the league was starting to get interesting.

Don't you worry about City,  the blancos will handle them in the second leg if the league resumes 

[Captain Corporate]

 Lol liverpool fans are so spoiled, you have been good for a minute, I haven't watched my team do good in champions league for over half a decade, and even at that point we got eleminated in quarter finals. If I were watch champions league only my team plays, I would watch probably like 6 games a year and thats it. When it becomes quarter finals and afterwards it doesn't matter which team is there, I am watching it. I can't really watch them all live, or I do not prefer to watch the whole game afterwards neither, so I pick some games with big teams and watch them, rest of them I just watch the highlights, youtube has this 10 minute mark for monatery gain so many big channels make it 10 minute highlights which is more than enough for me honestly.

[$crypto$]

My interest in the CL has taken a nose dive since we (Liverpool) got knocked out. For sporting integrity though it must be completed. The show must go on, I don’t mind who wins it but I don’t want Man City to

I enjoy UCLfrom season to season even if my team gets eliminated in the earlier stages. It's sad that everything had to stop just as the league was starting to get interesting.

Don't you worry about City,  the blancos will handle them in the second leg if the league resumes 

The UCL match was never missed because this was a very interesting match where I preferred UCL in the highest competition, well even though Liverpool had been eliminated by Atletico even I was very unexpected at Anfield Liverpool had weakness so they were eliminated from UCL.

Man.City and Real Madrid will be the very game later if UCL starts the match then this is what I want to see.

[Naida_BR]

My interest in the CL has taken a nose dive since we (Liverpool) got knocked out. For sporting integrity though it must be completed. The show must go on, I don’t mind who wins it but I don’t want Man City to

I enjoy UCLfrom season to season even if my team gets eliminated in the earlier stages. It's sad that everything had to stop just as the league was starting to get interesting.

Don't you worry about City,  the blancos will handle them in the second leg if the league resumes 

I think that now that the UCL has stopped none is going to enjoy it as we did before.
It will be a cup that it is going to end very fast, a lot of games are going to played at the same day-time and we are not be able to see all the games or at least the most of them as we used to do.

[wozzek23]

You may consider that these people are professional players and they will take care of their body, but you are forgetting that many of them are young as well. All those cool cats back in the day like George Best or Eric Cantona was a football player as well. I know they are back in the day but all of those "cool cats" that used to look like someone who is wise and knew what they were doing, was just people on their 20's making stupid decisions.

Hence I think many players could comeback fat and out of shape and just even if they look proper, they will definitely be under conditioned and they are going to just play bad for a long time before they can get back in shape. Hence I think early games would be disappointing obviously but it is better than no games.

[Coyster]

Don't you worry about City,  the blancos will handle them in the second leg if the league resumes  

Lol, the second leg is at the Etihad remember and Madrid go there trailing, the advantage is with the cityzens and now they are certain a third EPL title in a row is not possible, they must try to make this season a success. If Pep and city throw away this chance to drop Madrid and make a statement in this UCL, then they may not get another chance to, I think City will progress to the next round.

[JeromeTash]

Hence I think many players could comeback fat and out of shape and just even if they look proper, they will definitely be under conditioned and they are going to just play bad for a long time before they can get back in shape. Hence I think early games would be disappointing obviously but it is better than no games.

I know fitness due to a long period without playing regular intense football matches might be an issue but most of the clubs have tried to ensure that the player at least try to train in their respective home compounds. I also believe most of the players have professional nutritionists and fitness doctors advising them on their nutrition and keeping track of their weight and fitness.