The Europa League

As much as the money from the cl is great, the Europa league is so much more entertaining. Different trips all the time as well instead of Barcelona every year.

 

Said it after we got put on by Cluj, the EL is really good for us. Much more enjoyable that the champions league.

 

Group wide open..

Now we have a point away, winning our home games should see us through.

 

The only thing more attractive about the Champions League is the money, the quicker the super clubs all * off to do their own thing the better.

 

I've started giving the Champion League games a by. Bar the Final as it's an excuse for a session.

If everyone gave it a miss and let them do their own thing then things would start changing.

 

It’s getting repetitive aswell mate, the other night all the big teams playing each other and most of the games were pish. They really need to look at the whole setup because it’s getting stale even with them overselling it.

 

Very rarely watch it either, in saying that don't watch the Europa league bar us either

 

Surely Taking 10 Points from the Group would be enough to Qualify?
That’s winning our 3 home games and the point last night as a minimum that would be 10points.

 

Some buzz getting there tho.

 

The champions league is only less entertaining because of the massive disparity between the likes of Real Madrid, man city etc in terms of finances and playing squads. If we were able to somehow do an Ajax and have a genuine shot of getting to the semis and beyond it would be incredible

 

Lumping on us at 6/5 to qualify from the group, printing money

 

Exactly. The rich get richer and the gap widens, but it means that the same teams are constantly involved in the latter stages (Ajax and Spurs rare exceptions last season) and the competition has become stale and predictable.

The Champions League games are more glamorous, but I genuinely prefer watching our games in the Europa where we can go into every game with real ambitions.

 

I hate it for one reason and one reason only....

Sunday football instead of Saturday

 

I've stopped watching the CL unless we're involved... I've no investment in it at all now. It's turned into a cash generator for the wealthy, and personally I find the same teams being given byes to the latter stages, via qualification and seeding, boring and repetitive. Actual shocks are rare, and watching it only supports the corrupted structure I detest.

Doubt they'll notice my single stance in any way or form, but in my opinion '* UEFA' and the sooner they bite the bullet and form their own 'superleague' the better for everyone else...

 

That's exactly what I do, I've for the past number of years had a CL final night with a few mates but because of the English final last year never bothered.

What other sport has 4 awarded teams/players for such a big competition. There's not a 4th podium in the Olympics, soon the CL final will be contested by about 5 teams on the one park and it'll be shooties in.

 

UEFA have hit Celtic's Europa League rivals Lazio with a partial stadium closure over their supporters' fascist salutes.

The Serie A giants will have to close part of the Stadio Olimpico for their next Europa League match which is against Rennes

It comes after a section of their ultras were found guilty of making the gestures during their defeat to Sevilla in the last 32 of the competition last season.

Celtic face Lazio in a double in a double-header in October and November as they attempt to get through to the next round of the competition.


Simone Inzaghi's side are already playing catch-up after a shock 2-1 defeat on the opening game against Cluj in Romania and they face Rennes, who drew 1-1 with Celtic, next in Rome.

The Rome club had appealed the charge over the fascist salutes but lost the case.

Now Lazio chiefs have confirmed they will close the south east section of the stadium and they have also been ordered to put up UEFA banners in the empty section.

However, it's unlikely to pose much of a setback for the Italian giants, who are used to playing in their empty home stadium in Europe

Last season, in their four Europa League game, Lazio averaged just 16,155 as attendances in their 70,634-capacity stadium

And Celtic look set to receive a bumper allocation when the sides meet in November.

Lazio have long been hampered by a fascist element among their support. Former Celtic star Paolo Di Canio caused a controversy with a fascist salute while playing for the club in 2005. He was later fined.

 

17k in a 70k seater. Looks like tickets should be easy to get

 

Thats an embarrassing average attendance.... But then again who would want to be among these Fascists.

 

It starts with the seeding system.

You basically have a selection of super rich clubs who are given an easier route to the later stages because.....money? It creates a vicious cycle where those same teams are constantly getting to the later stages, therefore accumulating more coefficient points, ensuring they continue to reach the later stages in future years. It’s a handicap system in effect, except the handicap is weighted in favour of the best teams

Football is the biggest sport on the planet by a mile, but it really has lost its way. Clubs should be ingrained in the local community they represent, but the focus for UEFA is simply to maximise revenue by any means revenue. The most efficient way of doing that is to have a dozen or so ‘super clubs’ with global fanbases playing each other as regularly as possible.

 

Can you imagine F1 having the top 4 teams allowed 6 cars each ?

F1 do not do it because it would kill the sport and drive real racing fans away. There is plenty wrong in F1 but they try to level the playing field