unfair advantage for English teams

Because historically there's always been a massive biased against English teams in Europe so it's about time?

Pretty surprised that Chelsea goal got looked at yesterday but then I guess nobody, not even UEFA, especially want to be watching Atletico in the latter stages

Why has there historically always been a massive bias against English teams in Europe?

born of jealousy around the Forest and Liverpool European years if you're genuinely asking...

I know there is jealousy. It just sounded like JC said that English team have historically been disadvantaged when playing in the rest of Europe and it finally somewhat evens out.

I am wondering how they were disadvantaged.

Well suffering a ban of participation when they could have simply banned travelling fans and forced home games behind closed doors,
The Chelsea/ Barca game where two or was it three genuinely stone wall pens were turned down (2009)
In terms of the national team disallowed goal against Portugal in 2004 extra time
I'm sure others will have their favourite 'uefa' moment...for what it's worth I think the mood has changed in recent years...

Home advantage makes little difference with no fans, stats since the start of the pandemic bear that out and playing away can actually be an advantage.  The fact is that the EPL is probably the strongest league in Europe at the moment. Doesn't mean that the standard is exceptionally high but the top teams in Spain and Italy are currently not at their strongest.

You say it makes no difference as no fans ,but not one of the teams that has had to play their HOME games in another country has won yet .

So what size of sample has their been to date?

*there

"they could have simply banned travelling fans"

how could you do that? you could stop them going into the stadiums, but not travelling to the cities

most hooliganism in the 80s took place outside the grounds

wouldn't exactly have been a stretch to ask for UK gov co-operation involving Passport witholding etc for known offenders as became the norm (Thatcher was looking for any excuse to kill the game in that era anyway), not to mention just dispersing any groups close to grounds and indeed detaining them if they were in some way breaching established restrictions....rocket science it ain't.

were all of them known offenders?

clearly not - but how many people are you expecting to attend a city hosting a game that you can't get a ticket for ?

the reason it's often difficult to police trouble in the first place is that 90% plus aren't actually there for that purpose

maybe you're right and there were other options

i don't see UEFA being hostile to english teams though, and certainly not in the 2000s

i remember that chelsea game clearly by the way

never seen anything like it before or since, there were about 5 or 6 penalty appeals, Chelsea were robbed

was certainly a classic...pretty sure I was supporting Barca'

Leeds European cup final 1975 also springs to mind.... I think uefa have even tried to ban highlights of that match being shown

Tackle on Clarke in box ... no pen

Think in the early days there was a big difference in interpretation of the laws between different countries.
Cloughies Derby got stitched at the dastardly Juventus is a famous one.
Ref standards are supposed to be pretty uniform these days..
.. Tho for my part Barca and Real have always been held to a higher one than anyone else.

That final year Real won the UCL in 2018 was an absolute scandal in my eyes.
Pens and Red cards in every round going in their favour,
Especially when the aforementioned Juventus looked like knocking them out at the Bernieboo. Til Michael Oliver gave a very dodgy last min pen.
And of course Sergio Ramos charging round like a demented visigoth against our friends from LFC.
I think some journo said that worldwide tv figures for a ucl final with either Barca or Real are off the chart. Kind of makes sense then....

what do you mean by english - arsenal put a team out two weeks ago and there wasn't an english player in the first eleven line up  -  as remarked by the commentator

Fluck me. Red card Atalanta.
Couldnt make it up.

We invented the bloody game.  If we are given perks and advantages from time to time so what?  Who would take issue with that?  It's the scots isn't?

Arsenal's 'home' game tonight is in Athens.

Bangayang must need a yard brush to clean those gnashers. Crikey.

2-2. So Benfica can qualify with away goals if it stays like this?  I assume normal rules apply.

3-2. Season saved.

not sur whether to ask how they got into that mess or out of it

Thought you hated the Europa league sofa?

Feb 25, 2021 -- 2:27PM, wolf3011 wrote:

Thought you hated the Europa league sofa?

I do hate it, wolf.  Last 20 minutes of the Benfica game was decent though. Arse, Spurs and Man U safely into the last 64 of the Europey.

I wish wolves were in it, Im bored to tears of the mid table prem grind

Only English side who didn't have this advantage lost.

Arsenal didn't have it