over the summer, were able to leverage
the infrastructure of over a decade under
Roman Abramovich to knock Ajax out of
the competition should say all it needs to
regarding the benefits of a magnate owner.
Even so, and despite the indications
that wealth has crushed the soul of the
Champions League, it is not all doom and
gloom for fans of the plucky underdog.
Perhaps more than any domestic
competition, European football has shown
evidence that money is not everything in a
knockout competition.
Despite a high success rate at reaching
the knockout stages, the poster-boys of
the new-rich clubs, PSG and Manchester
City, have yet to reach the finals of the
Champions League under their new
owners. Similarly, the Anzhi Makhachkala
experiment failed to support itself, as the
wealthy Russian club was unable to gain
instant success despite a mass influx of
cash in 2011.
Instead, it is the smaller clubs that have
caught the imagination of fans, with
last season’s Ajax, no longer a financial
juggernaut, but armed with a world-
renowned youth set-up and Johan
Cruyff-centric ethos, knocking out both
Barcelona and Juventus. This season it is
Atalanta, a small club from Bergamo in Italy
who qualified in a group that contained
Manchester City and RB Salzberg, who are
backed by the Red Bull Group.
In fact, reducing clubs to their country of
origin detracts from a much larger story.
Chelsea’s Champions League victory in
2012 did not come at a time that they were
dominant, but when they finished sixth in
the league, and with a team boasting the
likes of Ryan Bertrand and Jose Bosingwa
under caretaker manager Roberto Di
Matteo. To claim this was due to the
club’s providence from England is
to trivialize a far more fascinating
narrative.
Likewise, the recent success of clubs
such as Juventus and Atletico Madrid,
runners up in four out of the last
six Champions League finals, may
have culminated in the two sides
establishing themselves as European
powerhouses, but did not start off
this way. Atletico in 2014 were the
first club in 10 years to break the
duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid
in La Liga, but did so through shrewd
business moves and world-class squad
management rather than record-
shattering transfers.
Whilst Juventus may have had the
advantage of their former glory to
fall back on, the team’s resurgence at
the start of the 2010s was not down
to their wealth, but to business-savvy
moves. Brining in the likes of Andrea
Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Kingsley Coman,
Fernando Llorente and Dani Alves on
free transfers helped the Old Lady to
success domestically, whilst selling
players such as Pogba and Coman
on for large profits allowed them to
strengthen their squad for Europe.
Clearly, even though this year’s
Champions League knockouts will not
feature a run from the likes of Ajax,
Porto or Shaktar Donestsk, there are
still plenty of storylines running as an
undercurrent. Intelligence and luck still
has a big part to play in both domestic
and international football, and this
is what is at risk from the possible
creation of a European Super League.
Although it may seem this season that
the Champions League is a closed
group for all intents and purposes, it is
the surprise runs, the giant killing and
the uncertainty that makes Europe’s
knockout competition so thrilling –
and why it should be protected at all
costs.ABOVE:
Paris Saint-Germain
and Manchester City
are two of European
football’s newly-rich
clubs
BOTTOM:
Jose Mourinho’s
Porto were the last
club from outside
England, Spain Italy
or Germany to win
the Champions
League in 2004)
MAN. CITY BAN,
IS IT FAIR!?
KEY DATES
When the news broke of Manchester City's
two-year European ban, it was greeted with
shock from around the world. Sheikh Mansour
and Pep Guardiola have been trying, for the
last three years, to take the place vacated by
their rivals in the red half of Manchester and
establish Manchester City as a global force
in football – both in terms of sporting and
financial dominance.The modern game is structured to play
football at the very top level – the Champions
League. Last year, the two finalists Liverpool
and Tottenham Hotspur raked in a combined
£200m from their European exploits; and
that's before gate receipts. When you add shirt
sales and advertising money, the top teams
are almost dealing in billions when it comes to
revenue streams.For City to have these opportunities snatched
away from them for two seasons, is a crushing
blow. UEFA brought their fist down on them
because of City's apparent deceit in disguising
financial irregularities within their sponsorship
income. Allegedly, City tried to avoid being
sanctioned for breaking Financial Fair Play laws
which are meant to stop clubs overspending
and going into unmanageable debt.Is this hefty ban punishment proportionate?
It's fair to say that pundits, insiders and fans
alike are all split on this issue. On the one hand,
many argue that FFP is a fundamentally unfair
law which is designed to keep the bottom-
feeder clubs in their place and ensure they
don't challenge the might of the super-elite.
If you subscribe to this view, you might think
that Manchester City are in no way morally
wrong for not observing what is essentially a
tyrannical rule.But, whatever your views on FFP, there's simply
no getting around the fact that Manchester
City have broken a law which they themselves
agreed to. This could easily be construed as a
display of arrogance from the club – a belief
that, because they are almost indecently rich,
they can flout the rules that everyone else must
follow.There is an upcoming appeal to the Court of
Arbitration for Sport which could well overturn
or reduce Manchester City's punishment. The
football world waits with baited breath for
a verdict which could irreversibly alter the
landscape of the European game.By: Adam WilliamsROUND OF 16:
FEBRUARY 18 - MARCH 18QUARTER FINALS:
APRIL 7 - APRIL 15SEMI FINALS:
APRIL 28 - MAY 6FINALS:
MAY 30
(Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul)'It is investment from
billionaire owners that has
seen teams like Paris Saint-
Germain and Manchester City
achieve success domestically’