Before I start, let me make a few things clear. I am an Arsenal fan, a Gooner. And even though I have a strong interest in the South American game, and do care for leagues from other continents, my focus will be the major European leagues because this is where a majority of the best players ply their trade. So I apologize in advance.
My focus is on the greatest tournament in the sporting world. Since its creation in 1992, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League is the best tournament that sports has to offer. There are teams from smaller and poorer leagues and then there are world renowned super clubs, the best players in the world playing at their highest levels.
The Champions League final is also among the most watched sports events in the world yearly.
Then you factor in the money that is at stake. Last season, there was a pot of over a $600 million with the clubs qualifying for the group stages receiving $4 million. A winning club, like last year’s Champions League winner Manchester United, made nearly $120 million in prize money from the tournament, hosting matches, and other commercial earnings.
With all the money that is made and the Champions League pitting the best teams and players all over Europe against each other, it is a soccer fan’s dream, right? Not if you are a fan of clubs like Red Star Belgrade, Steau Bucharest, or even former super powers like Benfica or Ajax.
While there is a bunch of money to be made in this competition, and the chance for the very best to compete, it also means the elite clubs are the primary beneficiaries. When looking at the 25 wealthiest clubs in the world for 2007, eight of the 11 clubs have played in Champions League Final, and seven of the Champions League winners have come out of this group. In fact, during the Champions League era, only Marseille (1993 winners), Borussia Dortmund (1996), Ajax (1995 winners and 1996 finalist), and Porto and Monaco (2004 winners and finalist respectively) have won or competed in the final of the Champions League while not being in the list of the top 10 wealthiest clubs list. No club has taken as big of a hit as Ajax.
The 1994/1995 club is regarded as one of the best teams ever. Superstar players like Kanu, Edgar Davids, Marc Overmars, Clarence Seedorf, all setting up goals for Patrick Kluivert to finish (my favorite striker of that era), Edwin Van de Sar stopping them at goalkeeper. They actually swept their league and the Champions League that season, and beat a great AC Milan side to win the European Cup. The same squad stayed together and came back the next season, only to lose in the finals to Juventus. And maybe that loss symbolized the Champions League era of soccer. Seedorf went to Real Madrid and eventually won the Champions League three more times with Madrid and Milan. Kluivert and Davids left to join AC Milan, Van de Sar was sold to Juventus, and Overmars eventually to Arsenal. Ajax, one of Europe’s most successful and important teams, has never reached those heights again. Whenever a young player has shown any quality; they have followed the path of the past greats and gone to one of Europe’s bigger and wealthier clubs. Ajax, as well as the other clubs already mentioned, has been relegated to second-class citizens on Europe’s biggest stage.
And that may be the tragedy of the Champions League, the teams that were able to compete in the old days against the bigger clubs in the European Cup, cannot anymore. The gap has now gotten too wide for these smaller clubs to compete with the bigger clubs consistently. Though I love this competition and seeing the megawatt teams compete, part of me still wishes there were a little club to fight with the bigger clubs. Or maybe this is just a cycle. In the old European Cup format, Real Madrid and Benfica were the first dominant forces, winning several titles between them in the tournament’s formative years. In the early to mid 1970s, Dutch and German clubs were the best with Ajax winning 3 straight tournaments in the early 70s. By the late 70s until the Heysel tragedy in 1985, English clubs ruled. After a ban of English clubs from European competitions, Italian clubs, specifically AC Milan, ruled the tournament up until - and after - the Champions League era started in the mid 90s. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, the Spanish clubs ruled. Today, it is the English teams. Maybe that is the only hope for fans of smaller clubs, like myself, that it is just a cycle.
