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Champions League takes the best teams from the previous season in Europe and they hold a tournament similar in structure to EURO or the World Cup. The games are played in the same time frame of the league games in each country.
You should check out Napoli. They're a very exciting team on the way up and I think have 5 or 6 Argentinians on the team in addition to the Italians and a few other internationals.
I think Champions League is the best springboard for fans that only watch the big tournaments. It is the best teams from each league playing in the same format you are used to. Group stage, knockout round. The only difference is they do a home-and-home series. You'll recognize most players from following the Euros and World Cups and you can start by rooting for all the Italian teams that are in it. The only drawback for most people is that the games are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Those happen to be my days off, but most people need to set the DVR for those.After watching the Champion League you'll get exposure to teams in the EPl and La Liga and may find one you want to start following on a domestic level.
In general the following channels show soccer on Direct TV. Obviously there is a ton more on the foreign language packs but I will stick to English and SpanishESPN and ESPN2 - US National team games, EPL, MLS, international club friendlies. Fox Soccer Channel - UEFA Champions League, Europa League, EPL, A League (Australia), USL (lower divisions of US Soccer below MLS), US College Soccer, Concacaf Champions LeagueNBC/NBCSN - MLS, US National Team games Gol TV - Argentina First Division, German BundesligaTelemundo family - Mexican first divisionUnivision family - Mexican first division, Mexico National Team games Of these stations, Fox Soccer and Gol TV are in the Sports Package. All the others you should get in your normal package. Note- Serie A (Italy First division), La Liga ( Spanish First Division), and Ligue 1 (France First division) have all moved to newcomer BeIn Sports for next season. The new channel launches on August 1st. They have not yet announced which cable and satellite companies they will be carried by. If carried by DirectTV, they will almost certainly be in the Sports Pack with Fox Soccer and Gol TV.
Very helpful and should be bookmarked for other newbs like me. Since ESPN coverage of EPL seems spotty to me and seems to only show major games (I don't think I've noticed it on regularly but could just be missing it), do you simply follow along online with league news? How do you keep track of which games are being shown and when?
I'm hoping to follow both this year but that's an interesting remark about how the format changes tactics. Could you explain that a little?
ESPN2 shows two EPL games every week. Typically one early Saturday morning and one Monday afternoon. Only rarely does ESPN show a game and that is if it is a huge game that they move from ESPN2. Other than that ESPN 2 shows games consistently all season. The majority of EPL games are on Fox Soccer Channel. There are tv schedules all over the net. www.epltalk.com usually is a good place to find them once the tv schedule is set.
I think he is trying to show the difference between league play say like in the EPL where you have a long season of 38 games, and a group format like the Champions League where you only get 6 games. All tactics in the group stage are set to get yourself to the knock out round (top 2 teams in your group advance). If you enjoy how the Euro's and WC are organized you may enjoy the Champions League as it will be very familiar to you (only difference being instead of 3 games you get 6 in the group stage (everyone plays everyone else in the group home and away).
I totally see what you are saying. All though an argument could also be made that if these new fans are coming in from watching WC's and Euro's they may find the Champions League format (after the qualifiers are complete) very familiar.
I find the CL schedule very off-putting. Midweek games aren't nearly as convenient than waking up on Saturday morning and switching on the game. The Champions League also has big gaps in its calendar that diminishes the week in, week out engagement of a national league.Since this is a fantasy football board, I think picking a fantasy team is a good way to bond with the game, particularly if you don't have a previous rooting interest in any particular team (or if your club is mired in League 2).
In the Champions League knockout stages, teams play home-and-home, and the team with the most combined goals between the two games wins. If they're tied on total goals, the team with the most away goals wins. If that's tied, they do the usual OT and penalty kick routine.The away goals rule really opens up games. Road teams want to get a goal or two for the tiebreaker, but home teams still want to score and dominate the match. It creates some very interesting strategic situations.
All good points. Who in our FFA group is going to adopt Rangers FC?
I understand the format differences, I just don't understand how they change match tactics. Are you saying that teams play more aggresively for scores in the CL away games? Do they take more chances attacking and are less likely to lay back defensively?
Think of the knockout stages as a 2 game season. Away goals are a tie breaker. Tactically, you are going to play differently in the ultra short season scenario than if you were in the middle of a long season. If you are ahead after one game, you might put out a defensive scheme for game 2. If you are behind, you might tactically change to a more offensive format. Because of the ultra short season, you know what you have to accomplish vs being in the start or middle of a long league season.
I would say CL games are played much more defensively.
Not that goal scoring as a whole is the be all end all to determine good offense vs good defense but it is an interesting measuring stick. Might be worth comparing the CCL to the league goals per game. In 2011/2012, the UCL goals per game was 2.76Here are some of the goals per game in the top 25 league in Europe. (this is a very cool link by the way for people who like comparisons.). The 2.76 would ranked 4th in the top 25 Euro leagues. http://comparetheleagues.com/
When you say CCL - do you mean CONCACAF Champions League?If you're talking about the UEFA CL, does that stat include qualifying matches (ie pre-group stage matches)? I would think there are bound to be more lopsided scorelines in thaat stage which could potentially skew that stat abnormally high.
Typo, I meant UCL. yes I believe that stat does include qualifiers in which I agree some of the scores can be very high.. Edit: does not include qualifiers, see my post below that breaks out the data. Although to be fair, with the incredible inbalance of power in the Euro leagues, some of the top teams regularly pound the bottom teams creating large score lines as well.
Yeah, exactly.In the group stage of the CL this season, average goals per game was 2.64.In the knockout stages, average goals per game was 3.14.
I don't like the Champions League because there's too much math
When I first started to investigate how it worked, it seemed like the hardest thing I've had to figure out since college calculus. Those guys aren't afraid to make it complicated.I don't like the Champions League because there's too much math
Too many people complicate it when trying to explain it. It is very simple. Whoever outscores the other team in the combined games advances. If they're tied, Away Goals are used as a tie breaker. If that is tied, they play OT then PKs if needed.When I first started to investigate how it worked, it seemed like the hardest thing I've had to figure out since college calculus. Those guys aren't afraid to make it complicated.I don't like the Champions League because there's too much math
If they're used to the World Cup and Euros, they are used to the group stage and advancing format. Plus they will recognize players from every team. They probably like the playoff/final format as well. It is hard to get casual American sports fans to buy in to the points system of the leagues.
There's more complications than just away goals. Like the UEFA coefficients and how all the qualifying rounds work and all that.It can be pretty daunting at first, until you realize that 90% of it doesn't matter because only 8-10 teams have a chance to win the whole thing anyway.Too many people complicate it when trying to explain it. It is very simple. Whoever outscores the other team in the combined games advances. If they're tied, Away Goals are used as a tie breaker. If that is tied, they play OT then PKs if needed.When I first started to investigate how it worked, it seemed like the hardest thing I've had to figure out since college calculus. Those guys aren't afraid to make it complicated.I don't like the Champions League because there's too much math
...mit keine Ballack bitte
He has grown on me. Don't know why because he still struggles to get his thoughts out. By the way, who is the Hispanic guy they get analysis from at half time remotely? He is excellent.
Wigan's coach. Roberto (?) Martinez i think.
That's correct and Ballack has improved exponentially since the start of the tournament. He's still not great but he has moved beyond one sentence answers and he only looks down once every 5 seconds now.'boubucarow said:
I had nothing more than a passing knowledge of the game before this last EPL season (basically just watching the World Cup) until I joined the league that kupcho set up. Now the first site I hit at breakfast is to check the transfer rumors out there. I'm hooked at this point and have tentatively picked a team (I think).
Do tell.
Hmm, this is intriguing. Something I could get into through here?
If you are talking about fantasy we run one for the EPL every year, UCL, and usually the WC and Euro's.Just pay attention, someone usually starts a thread in late July for the EPL fantasy league (all web based, salary cap type league).
Thanks, count me in if there's room. I could use another distraction to suck time out of my life.
Since we typically do salary cap leagues, there is no limit to the amount of entries. You will be more than welcome.
Is this only pc based or do they have an iPad version?
There's a handheld version. I don't know a lot about it, but others on this board have mentioned playing it.
Ok thanks. I will check the app store and see what some of the reviews are like.
I play it on an iPhone 4. It doesn't have the depth or immersiveness of the PC version. The database has to be much smaller so you never get the illusion that you're playing in a completely separate soccer universe.
Here's the developer's forum http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/30-Handheld-General-Discussion
It's crack."I'm just going to play up until my next match."
