Here we are on the eve of the biggest game in the European calendar and I somehow find myself wondering how the two teams are in the Champions League final.
Neither Chelsea nor Bayern Munich were champions of their domestic leagues last season, and neither have been champions this season.
Change
The competition is called the Champions League yet the two teams in the final are not actually champions. The competition should be looked at by the trades description act.
I think maybe UEFA should look at renaming the competition and regressing back to the old name of European Cup(unlikely because of corporate deals).
Ironically for the majority of time that the competition was the European Cup, only teams who were national champions qualified for the competition.
Money
Since the competition got re-branded as the Champions League money has taken over the prestige of taking part in Europe’s elite competition. The greed of football in general has grabbed football by the neck and hasn’t let go.
Teams now see qualifying for the Champions League as a major achievement, because it means that they keep up with their domestic rivals on equal financial terms. When the Premier League was established the English game was flooded with television money.
Then when the Champions League was established the rich teams got richer and created a bigger financial gap between themselves and the rest.
None of the big clubs wanted to miss out on the pot of money available from participating in the Champions League, so the competition sudden became bigger, and involved far more teams to provide a safety net if the big clubs didn’t win their domestic leagues.
Inconsistent
This safety net has proved vital for the likes of finalists Bayern Munich, who have been inconsistent in winning the Bundesliga in recent years. They are the German goliaths but on so many occasions have been found wanting when it comes to winning their domestic league title.
In recent years Chelsea have also found winning the Premier League difficult and finished 6th in the English top flight this season. Bayern finished second in the Bundesliga behind last seasons champions Dortmund.
So, according to this seasons league tables this season’s 6th best English team face the second best in German in the Champions League final. I don’t know if I am naïve in thinking this but isn’t there something wrong with that?
Occasions
Despite their failure to produce consistent domestic form the two sides have proven they can produce on the big occasions. Both were underdogs in the semi-finals as they faced Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.
However, both teams managed to produce performances good enough to get them through to the final. A lot of people expected the final to be between the two Spanish giants but the boys from the Bridge and the boys from Germany had other ideas.
Bayern got to the Champions League final in 2010, despite being un-fancied at the start of the competition. However they were defeated 2-0 by Italian champions Inter in the big game.
Quality
Despite not being domestic champions both Bayern Munich and Chelsea have quality in their ranks. At times this season the two teams have suffered awful results, which has cost them. However, on their day they can both play some excellent exciting football.
To my disappointment the Champions League final won’t be contested by teams that are champions. Though to be honest I really doubt that neither fans of Chelsea or Bayern will care should their team lift the Champions League trophy this evening.
Should only domestic champions be allowed in the Champions League?
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