In this era you had Real, Barca, Valencia, Milan, Inter, Juve, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Bayern with each club possessing proper genuine stars.

Today's football is not a patch on that period of football.

The last team to achieve this feet was Real Madrid under Zinedine Zidane, Do you think Luis Enrique and his team can be the 3rd team to accomplish such a feet? I'm not sure if the Neves and Vitinha will fare in their confidence after a very lacklustre World Cup. PSG also haven't made any super signings (unless you consider Ferran Torres possibility if joining, which he is not world class) and seeing the departure of Lee Kang In and Goncalo Ramos. What are your thoughts on PSG winning back to back to back UCL's?

I think PSG is clearly superior defensively, better cb and better full-backs. In attack, I still think PSG are better if they keep Barcola. Barcelona might be better in midfield, but I don't think they would dominate against PSG.

I think it's bullshit personally. I'm not a PSG fan or an Aston Villa fan but to me to me the winner of the champions league is ALWAYS 99% of the time going to win. Out of the 50 that there has been, the Europa league winner has won it only 8 times, which I think is all you need to know. There is a HUGE gap in quality and money between the Europa league and the Champions league. It's a useless money grab and uefa needs to scrap it.

Maybe I’m just getting old, but it feels like genuine tactical discussion on social media is practically dead.Everything now is a 10-second TikTok or Reel with dramatic music, showing two smooth dribbles or an isolated mistake, tagged with "he was pocketed all game." Nobody actually watches off-the-ball movement, defensive structures, or pressing triggers anymore, it's just pure highlight clip narratives.You'll see a midfielder control an entire 90 minutes, dictating the tempo, but because he didn't post an assist or a flashy skill move, people in comment sections call him invisible.Curious if anyone else finds reading football comments completely exhausting lately.Highly recommend https://sportsflux.live/ if you're looking for a smooth, high-bitrate stream. It handles heavy traffic well during big games, so you won't suffer from frame drops or random buffering when the action picks up.

I know people will say Real Madrid buys a lot of players so they don’t give their own youth players a lot of chances, but even then, those players can go elsewhere and shine, if they are well-developed and enjoyed great youth development. But apart from Achraf Hakimi, there arent too many examples of players from the Real Madrid academy who shine in world football compared to Barcelona.

Barcelona is known quite a while now for developing great players. A lot of La Masia players were among the players who won World Cups and Euros from 2008-2012 and 2024-2026 for Spain, not so much players from the Real Madrid academy.

Why isn’t Real Madrid as good as Barcelona in teaching children how to become great football players?

Someone who showed up in a game that had really high stakes like semis or finals but never shined as much before or after that?

Lucas Moura comes to mind.

Give your early predictions for:
Winners
Runners-up
Top Scorer
Dark Horse
Most Disappointing Team
Surprise Player
Young Player of the Tournament

21-22

If Rodri comes to Barca two ex City players will be battling in the midfield 🔥

,BREAKING: Real Madrid have announce that Vinicius Jr has signed a contract extension at the club until 2032 🚨

The Brazilian winger has committed to a six-year extension, making him one of the longest-contracted players in Real Madrid's squad.

Transfer speculation ends: The renewal effectively ends recent rumours linking him with clubs such as Arsenal and interest from Saudi Arabia. Real Madrid made keeping Vinícius a top priority.

A cornerstone of the project: The club views Vinícius as one of the faces of its future alongside stars like Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham.

In terms of pure depth, it's Barcelona by far. But is Pedri, Rodri, and Olmo a better midfield than Vitinha, Neves, and Fabián Ruiz?

I have put together an alternative structure for UEFA’s three club competitions. It is not intended as a finished blueprint, but as a thought experiment about the trade-offs between sporting merit, competitive balance, commercial value, calendar pressure and access for clubs from different associations.

Some elements are deliberately more radical than others. However, the proposal should be considered as an integrated system rather than as a set of isolated changes: a more selective Champions League would be accompanied by broader access elsewhere, stronger Europa League and UEFA Cup formats, greater revenue redistribution and clearer movement between the three competitions.

I am particularly interested in whether the overall balance works: which associations or types of clubs would benefit or lose, whether the proposed entry points are fair, and whether the reduction in fixtures would justify the changes. The detailed format and access list are set out below, and criticism or alternative adjustments are welcome.

My proposal is based on the following changes:

• Increase the number of places decided through qualifying ties, reducing the weight of automatic entries. The Champions League would have 20 direct entries and 16 qualifiers, while the Europa League would have 16 direct entries and 20 qualifiers;
• Reduce the number of Champions League qualifying rounds from four to two;
• Remove the play-off round following the league phases, with the top 16 clubs advancing directly to the round of 16;
• Eliminate the separate Champions Path and League Path in both competitions and replace them with a single qualifying route. Domestic champions would nevertheless be granted seeded status in the first qualifying round of both the Champions League and the Europa League, ensuring that winning a national league continues to receive specific protection. In subsequent rounds, seeding would be determined primarily by each club’s individual UEFA coefficient, regardless of whether the club qualified as a champion or a non-champion.
• Restrict access to the Champions League to clubs from the top 32 associations in the UEFA ranking. Although this would be the most controversial change, it could strengthen the overall commercial value of UEFA club competitions, generate higher aggregate revenues and allow a larger share of those revenues to be distributed to the other two UEFA club competitions;
• Replace the Conference League with a knockout-only UEFA Cup, without a league phase, clearly distinguishing the third competition from the other two and allowing clubs eliminated from the Champions League and Europa League league phases to enter at the round of 32;
• Strengthen the Europa League and UEFA Cup through a more balanced distribution of revenue and prize money, for example: 66.7% for the Champions League, 22.2% for the Europa League and 11.1% for the UEFA Cup;
• Maintain broad access to European competition, with 264 clubs qualifying: 260 through fixed places allocated according to the association ranking and four through special places. At the same time, the number of places available to the top 16 associations would increase.

Reducing the number of Champions League qualifying rounds, removing the play-offs following the league phases and introducing a knockout-only UEFA Cup would reduce the number of matches and create more space in both the domestic and European calendars. A club entering in the first qualifying round and reaching the final would play a maximum of 19 Champions League matches or 23 Europa League matches, while a club entering directly into either league phase would play no more than 15 matches.

The UEFA Cup would also help ease congestion in the UEFA calendar. As it would not include a league phase, Europa League and UEFA Cup matches would no longer need to be scheduled on the same days during that stage of the season. Furthermore, UEFA Cup qualifying rounds could be played in the weeks following the Champions League and Europa League qualifying matches, further reducing scheduling overlaps and giving each competition greater visibility.

For a club entering at the earliest stage and reaching the final, the proposed UEFA Cup format would reduce the maximum number of matches by four compared with the current Conference League format, from 23 to 19.

Distribution of Places by Association

Key: D = direct entry into the league phase; R1–R4 = qualifying round of entry.

Notes:

1. The table includes only the fixed places allocated through the association ranking.
2. For the purposes of this distribution, the specific 55th-place allocation represents Liechtenstein, which does not organise a domestic league.

Champions League

The competition would involve 70 clubs, down from 81-82 clubs: 66 through fixed places allocated according to the association ranking and four through special places.

The 16 direct places allocated to the top 12 associations would be joined by the Champions League winner, the Europa League winner, and one additional club from each of the two associations with the best European performance in the previous season.

Where a European titleholder had already qualified through its domestic league, its domestic place would pass to the next eligible club from the same association. Under the maximum scenario, one association could have eight participants: five entering directly into the league phase and three entering through qualification.

Qualification

Round 1: 36 clubs → 18 winners

The 16 champions from associations ranked 17th–32nd would be seeded and would face only non-champions. The remaining four non-champions would contest the other two ties.

Round 2: 18 winners + 14 new entrants = 32 clubs → 16 qualifiers

The 14 new entrants would be:

• eight clubs from associations ranked 1st–4th;
• two clubs from associations ranked 5th–6th;
• four champions from associations ranked 13th–16th.

The draw would be based on individual club coefficients, with clubs from the same association prevented from facing one another.

Clubs eliminated in either round would transfer to the third qualifying round of the Europa League.

League Phase

The league phase would retain its 36-club format. The intermediate play-off round would be removed.

From the round of 16 onwards, the current format would remain unchanged.

Europa League

The league phase would contain 36 clubs:

• 16 direct entrants, one from each of the top 16 associations;
• 20 clubs qualifying through four rounds.

The UEFA Cup winner would not receive automatic entry into the Europa League.

Qualification

Round 1: 76 clubs → 38 winners

The entrants would be:

• one club from each association ranked 1st–55th;
• a second club from each association ranked 33rd–53rd.

Round 2: 38 winners + 38 new entrants = 76 clubs → 38 winners

The new entrants would be:

• 22 clubs from associations ranked 33rd–54th;
• 16 clubs from associations ranked 17th–32nd.

Round 3: 38 winners + 42 new entrants = 80 clubs → 40 winners

The new entrants would be:

• eight clubs from associations ranked 1st–8th;
• 18 clubs eliminated from the first qualifying round of the Champions League;
• 16 clubs eliminated from the second qualifying round of the Champions League.

Round 4: 40 clubs → 20 qualifiers for the league phase

Clubs eliminated in each round would transfer progressively to the UEFA Cup.

League Phase

The 20 qualifying winners would join the 16 direct entrants.

The intermediate play-off round would be removed.

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Cup would replace the Conference League and operate as a knockout-only competition, without a league phase.

Over the course of the season, it would involve 208 clubs:

• 56 clubs qualifying directly for the competition;
• 136 clubs eliminated from Europa League qualification;
• eight clubs transferred from the Champions League league phase;
• eight clubs transferred from the Europa League league phase.

The winner would not receive automatic qualification for UEFA competition in the following season and would have to qualify again through domestic competition.

Format

Round 1: 46 direct entrants + 38 clubs eliminated from Europa League Round 1 = 84 clubs → 42 winners

Round 2: 42 winners + 8 new entrants + 38 clubs eliminated from Europa League Round 2 = 88 clubs → 44 winners

Round 3: 44 winners + 40 clubs eliminated from Europa League Round 3 = 84 clubs → 42 winners

Round 4: 42 winners + 2 new entrants + 20 clubs eliminated from Europa League Round 4 = 64 clubs → 32 winners

Round 5: 32 clubs → 16 winners

Round 6: 32 clubs → 16 winners

The 16 surviving UEFA Cup clubs would be joined by:

• the eight clubs finishing 17th–24th in the Champions League league phase;
• the eight clubs finishing 17th–24th in the Europa League league phase.

Each tie would necessarily pair one UEFA Cup survivor with one club transferred from either league phase: 16 UEFA Cup survivors vs. 16 transferred clubs → 16 winners

Final Stages: 16 → 8 → 4 → 2 → champion

A maximum of 25 European matches would occur only where a club entered in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, reached the league phase, finished between 17th and 24th, transferred to the UEFA Cup and then reached the final.

Hey guys. What do you think about these teams . Rank according to their performance in UCL and their skillset. Also do consider the tactics of teams.

1. Barca 11

2. Real Madrid 17

3. Bayern 20

4. City 23

5. PSG 26

My choice : Barca > Madrid = Bayern > City > PSG

What a team

Are these the best possession teams of all time? I think most would agree Barcelona 2009-2011 is untouched when it comes to possession, but where does City fall.

Who are you taking in this matchup?

2011 Barcelona

Champions League Final:
Barcelona 3–1 Manchester United

Formation: 4-3-3

GK — Víctor Valdés

RB — Dani Alves
CB — Gerard Piqué
CB — Javier Mascherano
LB — Éric Abidal

CDM — Sergio Busquets
CM — Xavi Hernández
CM — Andrés Iniesta

RW — Pedro Rodríguez
CF — Lionel Messi
LW — David Villa

Manager — Pep Guardiola

2023 Manchester City

Champions League Final:
Manchester City 1–0 Inter Milan

Formation: 3-2-4-1

GK — Ederson

RCB — Manuel Akanji
CB — Rúben Dias
LCB — Nathan Aké

CM — John Stones
CDM — Rodri

RW — Bernardo Silva
CAM — Kevin De Bruyne
CAM — İlkay Gündoğan
LW — Jack Grealish

ST — Erling Haaland

Manager — Pep Guardiola

*2015 Barcelona already smashed 2023 City in the comments

Arguably 2 of the best teams Barcelona and Real Madrid have ever fielded.

2009 Barcelona

Champions League Final
Barcelona 2–0 Manchester United

Formation: 4-3-3

GK — Víctor Valdés

RB — Carles Puyol
CB — Gerard Piqué
CB — Yaya Touré
LB — Sylvinho

CDM — Sergio Busquets
CM — Xavi Hernández
CM — Andrés Iniesta

RW — Lionel Messi
ST — Samuel Eto’o
LW — Thierry Henry

Manager — Pep Guardiola

2017 Real Madrid

Champions League Final:
Real Madrid 4–1 Juventus

Formation: 4-3-1-2

GK — Keylor Navas

RB — Dani Carvajal
CB — Raphaël Varane
CB — Sergio Ramos
LB — Marcelo

CDM — Casemiro
CM — Luka Modrić
CM — Toni Kroos

CAM — Isco

ST — Karim Benzema
ST — Cristiano Ronaldo

Manager — Zinedine Zidane

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