Silvio Berlusconi was so unhappy at the champions of Italy and Spain facing off in the first round of the European Cup that the Champions League was devised
on Tuesday in perhaps the pick of the games from the entire Champions League group stage, with the newly-crowned Italian kings taking on the 14-time European champions in a game that sees Carlo Ancelotti return to one of his many former abodes.
The randomised draw led to Napoli catching the biggest fish possible on their maiden voyage. Real Madrid. Los Blancos. The record champions. The undisputed aristocrats of European football.‘s Nottingham Forest, fresh off their one and only Division One championship, defeated reigning European kings Liverpool in an all-English blockbuster first-round clash – this game was the tipping point for the money men now entering the sport.
In his eyes, this sort of match was fitting of a final, not a first round, and ruined the overall attraction of the competition. Berlusconi was undoubtedly a visionary and someone who helped grow football as a sport, but like most things in life, its upside has created many other downsides. They will only increase with the introduction of the Swiss model format, which guarantees more revenue and more games but even less peril and excitement.
As the bigger clubs have profited more and more from the game and the gap to the smaller clubs has become an unending chasm, the chances of David beating Goliath, something which is far more likely in football than nearly any other sport, has only diminished. It has been to the detriment of everyone bar those lining their pockets.
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