Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Is The Best Team In Europe Not In the Champions League?

Yes, that is a foolish thing to say after only a few matches, but ever since I saw a Bayern Munich preseason match and my reaction was "damn!", I have been pondering the possibility that come next April everyone may be talking about how the best team in Europe isn't one of the Champions League semifinalists but rather Bayern, who have improved their squad beyond belief with the additions of Franck Ribery, Luca Toni, and Miroslav Klose. Last year they were uncharacteristically bad enough that they did not qualify for the Champions League, but early returns look like they will be one of the very best, and most pleasing to watch, teams in Europe this year. They are expected to win the Bundesliga at a trot and the UEFA Cup at a canter. Certainly anything can happen, and a handful of matches does not a season make, but again I wonder if come April the best footy in Europe will be on display by a non CL team.

Check them out if you can- they are playing some serious joga bonito and scoring in bunches- they are a pleasure to watch in their current iteration.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny, the same argument could be made for Sevilla last season as well. Maybe the UEFA Cup isn't so useless...wait, forget I said that.

Anonymous said...

while i do agree with your comment- i cannot agree with your use of some bullshi* nike catchphrase. joga bonito???? seriously. stop.

beast in 'bama said...

Joga bonito, translated from Portuguese, means "play beautiful." Does Nike have exclusive rights to the Portuguese language as well?

Unknown said...

I agree entirely. Bayern are a joy to watch this year.

Anonymous said...

There's a big difference between what happened at Bayern this year and what happened at Sevilla last year. Bayern more or less bought an entire attack as a reaction to a tremendously disappointing season. Sevilla, as they have been known to do, faded down the stretch 2 years ago and lost out on a CL spot to Osasuna on the last match day.

That said, in light of recent events, I can safely say that I'll be pulling for Sevilla in all competitions this season (and probably for many to come). A statement that I will NEVER make about Bayern