2017-2018 Champions League

Should be a great tie, but unfortunately, I expect fan violence, especially in Rome. Lots of bad blood between these two fan bases. Roma fans hate English teams/fans, they've attacked, stabbed, etc fans from Arsenal, Middlesbrough and others, but specifically hate Liverpool. To be honest Italian fans in general hate Liverpool, mostly stemming from their hooligan fans in the 70s and 80s.

 

I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but it's obvious UEFA is desperate for a PL side to make the Finals. Pitting Bayern and RM against each other increases the odds of that.

 

I disagree

 

The last time there was an EPL team in the Semifinals, they were matched up with Real instead of Atletico which was the easiest team of the 3 remaining possible opponents on paper

 

I think it's more to do with marketing/hype. Lots of history between Bayern and RM (good and bad), and it's the most played match up in European Cup/UCL history. Also lots of history between Liverpool and Roma (mostly bad based on fans of each side in the 70s/80s)

Also, if history shows anything, it's that UEFA (and FIFA) hate England and English teams, including the National Team, and would rather them not be successful.

 

And thought you guys would get a kick out of this:

 

I disagree. Especially after the narrative has set in that PL sides can't compete in Euro comps.

 

So you're saying that UEFA approves of the narrative that PL sides aren't competitive in European competitions?

 

You're making a crazy assumption. Look at the last few EPL teams in the semis.

Something tells me if it was rigged for EPL teams as you're saying then they would have done something to make sure Liverpool/City did not meet in the Quarters.

Why not setup a quarters of Sevilla/City & Roma/Liverpool since they're so desperate to see EPL teams do successful?

 

Did I mention the QF draw in my initial post about this? Go ahead and check I'll wait.

 

You didn't but point is if there is such a conspiracy theory to see EPL teams do well in this tournament then why match Liverpool with City in the first possible round where teams from the same country can face each other?

They want to see EPL teams do so well in this tournament so have them play each other in the QF.....yep that makes sense lol

 

It MIGHT have changed (though I doubt it), but in the recent past, Platini (UEFA), Blatter (FIFA) and others made no attempt to hide their contempt for England and it 's teams.

I lived in England for 5 years, and have a lot of friends there and most fans there, regardless of which team they support, believe there is a bias against English teams.

They hated the English dominance in the 70s and 80s (Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Astin Villa, etc) and again about a decade ago, between 05 and 09 when you had an English club in the Final every year.

Case in point, England, the birthplace of football, has only hosted 1 World Cup in 1966, since then, every bid they've put up has been shot down with even UEFA members voting against it, even though England already has the stadiums and infrastructure in place and wouldn't have to build anything.

The only thing UEFA and FIFA like about the EPL Teams and England National Team is the money they bring.

 

Mocking me won't make my point less true. They want the best odds to get an EPL side into the Finals. Matching Liverpool up with Roma achieves that.

But please, continue to mock what I've never implied, nor stated.

 

And do you ever wonder why you never see Barca/Real Madrid/Atletico/Sevilla matched up against each other in the early knockout rounds?

 

Got it so why not increase those chances by having City and Livepool face other teams (who they're both better than) so both can make the semi finals.

Why not do the following instead?

QF
Real/Barca
Bayern/Juventus
Liverpool/Roma
City/Sevilla

SF
winner of Bayern/Juventus vs winner of Real/Barca
City vs Liverpool

This is a much better route if you truly wanted to increase the odds of getting an EPL team in the finals.

Just saying

 

I already know why. I think it only happened once in recent years. I believe Barca/Atletico played a few years ago in the Quarters. One of the years when Atletico made the finals I think

 

This is the first time we have one each of from Germany, England, Spain, Italy. The big 4 countries each have a shot. Now that Bayern is playing Real can we get a Ramos suspension for Game 1

 

He should be, but wasn't. No doubt in my mind that if he didn't play for RM, he would have been.

Sergio Ramos discovers fate over Champions League semi-final suspension

 

Hate Madrid but I would mind seeing Rinaldo win another.

I'm saying that though
Bayern Munich > Liverpool > Roma > Madrid