Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊

Which Is Harder to Win?





Goldstone Rapper

Rediffusion PlayerofYear
Jan 19, 2009
14,865
BN3 7DE
The answer is the European Cup, because the competition has been superseded by the Champions League.
 


Baldseagull

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2012
10,871
Crawley
The Mantis shrimp is harder than both of them, but it isn't as hard as a Honey Badger.
 


red star portslade

New member
Jul 8, 2012
1,882
Hove innit
The answer is the European Cup, because the competition has been superseded by the Champions League.

Champion league for me . In its day I thought the Uefa cup was harder to win the European Cup. When you consider, back in the day, that let's take Italy as an example, that Roma won the Italian league, you would end up with Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 11, 2003
59,203
The Fatherland
We've had this debate in the past and my opinion from the arguments provided then is that winning the European Cup was harder. First you had to win your respective domestic league and then you had to continually beat other champions the following year. I appreciate that some countries had weak leagues but then current format is awash with also-rans. For me the fact that clubs like Arsenal which have not won a trophy in 8 or so years continually get a bite of the Cherry demeans the tournament.
 


BadFish

Huge Member
Oct 19, 2003
17,017
I would say it depends on who you are. The European Cup was easier to win if you were a smaller club but the Champions League is easier if you are a big club. The Champions League is designed to give bigger clubs a second chance and take the gamble out of the two leg knock out format. Once the two legged knockout format is underway the cream has risen to the top and the smaller clubs have been eliminated.
 


WATFORD zero

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 10, 2003
25,675
I would say it depends on who you are. The European Cup was easier to win if you were a smaller club but the Champions League is easier if you are a big club. The Champions League is designed to give bigger clubs a second chance and take the gamble out of the two leg knock out format. Once the two legged knockout format is underway the cream has risen to the top and the smaller clubs have been eliminated.

Is the correct answer.
 






father_and_son

Well-known member
Jan 23, 2012
4,646
Under the Police Box
The last eight of this season's Champions League is Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid. That is seriously TOUGH. However, if you could only have one club from each country like in the old days, the last eight would be (roughly): Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG, Galatasaray, Olympiacos, AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg.

It doesn't take a genius to work it out. The only thing that is harder about the European Cup is actually qualifying for it, but once you're in it, the quality and competitiveness of the Champions League is infinitely higher.


Disagree completely... The comparison is similar to Prem vs Championship... One has a bunch of teams who are so far ahead of the rest that one of them will always win and the 3/4 who are "also ran" will never make the grade. The other is a competition of [near] equals where anyone can beat anyone else thus, for the clubs involved, this will always a relatively harder tournament.
 


hans kraay fan club

The voice of reason.
Helpful Moderator
Mar 16, 2005
61,094
Chandlers Ford
The last eight of this season's Champions League is Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid. That is seriously TOUGH. However, if you could only have one club from each country like in the old days, the last eight would be (roughly): Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG, Galatasaray, Olympiacos, AC Milan and Zenit St Petersburg.

It doesn't take a genius to work it out. The only thing that is harder about the European Cup is actually qualifying for it, but once you're in it, the quality and competitiveness of the Champions League is infinitely higher.

All of this.

Champions League if the question is "which is harder for a team that is IN it"

European Cup if you are including the actually qualifying part.
 




Bold Seagull

strong and stable with me, or...
Mar 18, 2010
29,719
Hove
Without a shadow of a doubt the Champions League is harder to win.

European Cup
Yes you need to be champions, or the previous years winner, but ultimately you had 4 x 2 legged ties and you were then in the final. You'd be playing champions from around Europe, but you might completely avoid the champions of Italy, Spain, Germany etc. It is no coincidence that in the old format the trophy was retained on a staggering 13 occasions.

Champions League
Qualifying ties, a group stage whose 3 ties would have put you in the semi-finals in the old format. To win the Champions League you WILL need to beat at least 3 or 4 of Europe's top sides. That rarely happened in the old European Cup. To date the CL has never been retained. It's just so damn hard to win it.
 


father_and_son

Well-known member
Jan 23, 2012
4,646
Under the Police Box
Let's say you're a club from Holland, or a similarly respectable but second tier football nation, and your aim is to win the Champions League. You currently have to finish ahead of Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan from England, Spain, Germany and Italy. Not to mention the likes of PSG (and next season Monaco). In the European Cup, the only sides from that lot who would have qualified would have been Man United, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Juventus, and you'd only have to deal with them on a knockout basis (easier for them to be beaten).

Now, you are guaranteed at least one top team in your group, and of the four knockout rounds you will get at least three high-quality opponents. Quite simply, you're playing more matches against better opponents. The likes of Chelsea, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund (none of which are domestic champions) are effectively replacing the champions of Romania, Belgium, Sweden and all manner of irrelevant and uncompetitive nations around Europe. It's nothing like the EPL v Championship, comparing the Champions League to the European Cup is more like comparing the EPL to the FA Cup.

Also, your suggestion that there are three or four teams who will "always win" the Champions League is blown out of the water somewhat by the fact eight different clubs have won it in the last ten years.

Should have been clearer - I said "3/4 who are also rans" - meaning three quarters of the teams have no chance - this leaves exactly the 8 mentioned having a realistic chance to win (if you consider the 32 in the KO stages).
 



Paying the bills

Latest Discussions

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Paying the bills

Albion and Premier League latest from Sky Sports


Top
Link Here