Battle of the Leagues

[Notorious Big]

So,wanted to made thread about domination of one league in Champions League over last 20 years.We had golden period of Seria A,Premier League and La Liga.Which Era was the most impressive for you ? Was competition from other leagues stronger in one period or teams that were dominant in CL were just too good ? And many other interesting things.

Let's start:

Seria A:

Domination of Seria A started in 2002/03 when AC Milan won Champions League against Juventus on penalties.It wasn't interesting match with a lot of tactics,but Milan won it at the end.Italian domination was until 2007 when Milan won their last Champions League against Liverpool in Athens.

Some of results of Milan,Inter and Juventus and others in those seasons ( 2002-2007:

2002/03: Milan ( Champions) ,Juventus (final ), Inter ( Semi-final )

2003/04 : Milan (Quater-final ) ,Juventus ( Round of 16), Inter (Group stage )

2004/05 : Milan (Final),Juventus ( Quater-final),Inter (Quater-final)

2005/06: Milan ( Semi-final ),Juventus ( Quater-final ), Inter ( Quater-final )

2006/07: Milan (Champion), Juventus (Didn't play ) ,Inter ( Round of 16 ), Roma ( Quater-final )


English Premier League:

With introduction of Abramovic's Chelsea and strong sides of Manchester United,Arsenal and Liverpool,EPL started their bright ERA since 2007.One of the best United's team won Champions League in 2008 in Moscow against Chelsea.Wtih Arsenal who always had competitive team and Liverpool who was usually threat in Europe,EPL had their domination for 5 years.Barcelona was team who stopped Utd twice in final,but England produced best club in those times.

Their results in those period ( 2007-2012 ):

2007/08 : Man Utd ( Champion ), Chelsea ( final), Liverpool ( Semi-final ),Arsenal ( Quater-final )

2008/09: Man Utd ( Final ), Chelsea ( semi-final ),Liverpool ( Quater -final ), Arsenal ( Semi-final )

2009/10:Man Utd ( Quater-final ),Chelsea ( Round of 16 ), Liverpool ( Group stage ), Arsenal ( Quater-final )

2010/11 : Man Utd ( Final ), Chelsea ( Quater-final ),Arsenal ( Round of 16 ), Tottenham ( Quater-final )

2011/12: Man Utd ( Group Stage ), Chelsea ( Champions ), Arsenal ( Round of 16 )


La Liga:

After German's final at Wembley in 2013,La Liga started their pure dominance in Champions League and Europa League.One of the reasons was Real's better play in Europe under Carlo Ancelotti and also introduction of Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid,who became third strong team in Spain.Atletico lost final in Portugal against arch rivals Real,but won La Liga in 2014.Think their domination started to fade since 2018,with Barcelona got weaker,Real was in transition and Atletico wasn't so constant like before.

Their results ( 2013-2018 )

2013/14 : Real Madrid ( Champions ), Barcelona ( Quater-final ), Atletico ( Final )

2014/15: Real Madrid ( Semi-final ), Barcelona ( Champions ), Atletico ( Quater-final)

2015/16 : Real Madrid ( Champions ), Barcelona ( Quater-final ), Atletico ( Final )

2016/17: Real Madrid ( Champions ), Barcelona ( Quater-final ),Atletico ( Semi-final )

2017/18: Real Madrid ( Champions ), Barcelona ( Quater-final) , Atletico ( Group stage ), Sevilla ( Quater-final )

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Late 90's Serie A surely in with a shout too? I went for Serie A 02-07 out of those options tho.

 

[Notorious Big]

Late 90's Serie A surely in with a shout too? I went for Serie A 02-07 out of those options tho.

Yeah,wanted to put that as well and they were even better in that period,but reckon that some of us were very young and don't remember that games and teams very well .

Also,it was different format of competition,so i wanted to kinda be equal for every league.

 

[Riou]

Out of the options in that poll, I feel Spain 2013-2018 is the weakest...even if Madrid did retain it in that period, felt is was a poor era of other top teams compared to the other 2.

 

[Notorious Big]

Out of the options in that poll, I feel Spain 2013-2018 is the weakest...even if Madrid did retain it in that period, felt is was a poor era of other top teams compared to the other 2.

When EPL was dominant,only Barcelona was good from Spain.Real used to lose in early stages and Atletico wasn't that strong.Seria A was still solid league with Inter had main word.Milan started their decline and Juve just came back to Seria A.Also,Bayern was something like Real.

 

[Riou]

When EPL was dominant,only Barcelona was good from Spain.Real used to lose in early stages and Atletico wasn't that strong.Seria A was still solid league with Inter had main word.Milan started their decline and Juve just came back to Seria A.Also,Bayern was something like Real.

Yeah, you're right.

Serie A 2002-2007 is the winner...Arsenal, United, Chelsea, Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Milan so many genuine top teams during that period.

 

[Notorious Big]

Yeah, you're right.

Serie A 2002-2007 is the winner...Arsenal, United, Chelsea, Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Milan so many genuine top teams during that period.

It's hard to decide .Think that Milan was the best team of all those winners.Maybe Inter should done little bit more,but they lost twice to Milan.Juventus was kinda unlucky in CL,won twice and played few finals and lost.

 

[Notorious Big]

@Riou ,Legendary picture in CL.

 

[Riou]

@Riou ,Legendary picture in CL.

Shame Rui Costa didn't take advantage of this moment to try and kill Materazzi, he could have did it under the cover of the smoke!

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Yeah,wanted to put that as well and they were even better in that period,but reckon that some of us were very young and don't remember that games and teams very well .

Also,it was different format of competition,so i wanted to kinda be equal for every league.

I didn't watch either just going by what others have said about it.

 

[Notorious Big]

Shame Rui Costa didn't take advantage of this moment to try and kill Materazzi, he could have did it under the cover of the smoke!

 

[Juan Matas Beard]

It's a bit tricky, even though Chelsea won it in 2011/12, I think after 2009 the English teams dipped in quality. I think 2004-2009 would reflect a stronger period in terms of overall quality but the teams didn't really deliver in Europe.

 

[Juan Matas Beard]

Out of the options in that poll, I feel Spain 2013-2018 is the weakest...even if Madrid did retain it in that period, felt is was a poor era of other top teams compared to the other 2.

Have to disagree, we were seeing the absolute primes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi in that span, breaking records in Europe like it was nothing. Amongst some of the most ridiculous lineups from these Spanish sides. Then we even had Simeone who made it much more competitive. Not only in the Champions League but in Europa League they were levels ahead.

Think we'll come to appreciate just how great these sides were when they are finished.

 

[Notorious Big]

It's a bit tricky, even though Chelsea won it in 2011/12, I think after 2009 the English teams dipped in quality. I think 2004-2009 would reflect a stronger period in terms of overall quality but the teams didn't really deliver in Europe.

Wasn't 2005/06 season quite bad for EPL teams ? Liverpool and Chelsea went out in round of 16,Utd didn't go to knock out stage.Arsenal only did well and that was our weakest season in EPL for years.So,that generation wasn't in their peak anymore.

2004/05 was better,but it was kinda surprise how Liverpool won CL.

Think that La Liga wasn't that good until 2013 and when Atletico started to play in later stages all the time.Barcelona was amazing of course,but Real was undone with Mourinho and others weren't that good.So maybe EPL just edge it in strength in that period.

 

[Juan Matas Beard]

Wasn't 2005/06 season quite bad for EPL teams ? Liverpool and Chelsea went out in round of 16,Utd didn't go to knock out stage.Arsenal only did well and that was our weakest season in EPL for years.So,that generation wasn't in their peak anymore.

2004/05 was better,but it was kinda surprise how Liverpool won CL.

Think that La Liga wasn't that good until 2013 and when Atletico started to play in later stages all the time.Barcelona was amazing of course,but Real was undone with Mourinho and others weren't that good.So maybe EPL just edge it in strength in that period.

I think Mourinho's Madrid sides were very unlucky at times.

 

[Notorious Big]

I think Mourinho's Madrid sides were very unlucky at times.

They should done more against Dormund imo.Barcelona was too good in 2011 and against Bayern it was small margins,but that was their best season under Jose.

Think they were close to English teams in those period.Don't know that they played against them so much under Mourinho in 2010,2011 and 2012.

 

[Notorious Big]

@Juan Matas Beard ,think that quality was still good from Chelsea,Utd and Arsenal after 2009 and until 2012.

Arsenal just lost to Barcelona twice,but we had very good team.We were unlucky with draw.

Chelsea lost to Inter in 2010 and kinda messed up with managers after that.Reckon that they could done more in second season with Ancelotti,but something went wrong with their results.Won it in 2012.

Utd also had a lot of power.Maybe you sold Ronaldo and some players weren't in their peak anymore,but Barcelona was too good in final 2011 and only in 2011/12 was bitter blow.You could also win against Bayern and were unlucky in that game.

 

[Riou]

...yeah, definitely 2002-2007 had the best everything

 

[Corbulo]

I voted for the '02-'07 Serie A, but that's like bragging about hooking up with a 93 year-old Gina Lollobrigida.

In the 80s, Serie A was out of this world and not only because Maradona won us two league titles. There has never been a greater concentration of football talent in one league at one time. Diego could walk in the Camorra-run district of Forcella without anyone bothering him. Watching Maradona live was like having a mystical experience.

Every team, right down to the bottom of the league, boasted foreign pony studs: Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard at Milan, Platini, Boniek and Laudrup at Juventus, Falcao and Cerezo at Roma, Rummenigge, Matthaus, Brehme and Klinsmann at Inter, Socrates and Passarella at Fiorentina, Elkjaer and Briegel at Verona, Zico at Udinese. That would never happen today. I got to see some of the most skilful players of all time facing off each weekend. Never before or since has one league monopolised so many of the game’s superstars all at one time. Complete control of the entire supply of goods.

The football was tactical and brutal, the goals were rare but the game never lost its spark. It was an unique challenge to watch masters like Maradona, Baggio, Platini, Careca, Polster or Eljkaer trying to unlock a brutal, ugly and unapologetic defense. Great mathematicians trying to solve difficult problems. Some defenders were world-class and many of them were average but they were all masters of the dark arts. Experts of nuisance and nuance, always looking for shrewd ways to gain an advantage.

"If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere'': That's not New York, it was Serie A for any forward. Nobody scored for fun, it was the ultimate test. That cliché never existed and Ian Rush would agree. That's why I was convinced that Bergkamp was going to be a sensation in England. He defeated the last boss. Recently I think Cristiano said that Serie A is the most difficult league in which to score goals. Well, there was a time when it was even more difficult. There was difficulty in every damn opportunity. Baptism of fire.

There were extraordinary demands on the game’s attacking players. The rules, the tactics and the quality of the defenders were all against them.
The level of Serie A declined in the early 00s. Premier League became bigger, Bundesliga and La Liga grew, Ligue 1 made some steps as well.

 

[Rex Stone]

...yeah, definitely 2002-2007 had the best everything

Unlucky he played right before Messi & Ronaldo dominated because he was genuinely the best player in the world for a couple of years.


One of the best passes I’ve ever seen.