Raúl Domínguez รีทวีตแล้ว
The UCL is hard to win. It’s always been.
That loss yesterday it 11 years since Barcelona last made the finals. Before 2006, they went 14 years. They won it for the first time in 1992, thirty-seven years after the first European Cup game was played. Their best period remains 2006 to 2015 when they won it four times.
That competition is so wicked that they may not win it again for another decade. It’s possible.
Real Madrid went 32 years without a UCL trophy. Between 1966 and 1998. In that period, they won the league 16 times. Between 2003 and 2011, they made the semifinal only once.
For context, Pep Guardiola didn’t make a single UCL final at Bayern Munich. It took him five years or so to make his first at Man City. He spent a truckload of money to achieve that feat. Consecutive quarterfinal exits in the hands of teams you’ll expect them to steamroller.
Jose Mourinho won and became everything he could at Chelsea but he never made a UCL final with them. You know who did?
Avram Grant. Roberto Di Matteo. Two coaches who can’t be heard near Mourinho’s level.
If Arsenal make it to the semifinal, they’ll be the only English team in the semifinal for the second year running.
Same Arsenal didn’t even qualify for the UCL for seven years. They’ve seen a final once. They’ve only gone as far as the semifinal three times. In Wenger’s 22 years at Arsenal, they made the semifinal only twice. The first didn’t come until nearly a decade after he joined.
The Premier League had six teams in the UCL this season. Only one of them is likely to make the semis. Only two made the quarters.
And that’s a league that spent £3.4bn in last summer’s transfer window alone.
Diego Simeone has made the final twice and he hasn’t won it. He’s spent 15 years at Atletico Madrid. In that period, ATM have only gone as far as the semifinals four times. Simeone may yet leave ATM without winning it.
It’s why Zidane’s achievements sits gently and pretty. He lived a charmed life. That achievement is rare.
A league title rewards consistency, the UCL rewards a combination of too many factors, some of which are outside your control.
My name is Rilwan, I love and write about football systems, memories and the depths behind the game. Follow me and repost if you want more of this.
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