On Tuesday afternoon all of the eyes in the sporting world fell on Manchester, England and their famous football pitch as two of Europe's greatest clubs competed in their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 matchup. Two of the world's biggest sports franchises meeting up in the early knockout rounds of this tournament is not rare, and the battle between Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United and Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid side brought two of the game's best managers and most historic clubs together for a spectacle of football (don't call it soccer).
After the first leg in Madrid ended in a 1-1 tie, England's Old Trafford "The Theatre of Dreams" would play the host to the final ninety minutes of their two leg series where who would move on to the quarterfinals was to be decided. After a tightly contested first half, Manchester United went up 1-nil before a controversial red card given to United midfielder Nani put the Red Devils down a man and changed the game. Madrid scored two goals, including the final one from former United star Cristiano Ronaldo to advance to the quarterfinals at the expense of England's biggest club. After the game Madrid manager Mourinho stated that "the best team lost" in being modest of United's brave performance in the two matches being foiled by a red card that shrouded the match in controversy. But these 180 minutes between two of the sport's best team's entrenched an opinion that might not be popular amongst North American sports fans. The Champions League is the hardest trophy to win in professional sports.
It is actually such an easy argument to make that it is shocking that the tournament doesn't get a higher respect in North America. To qualify to the UEFA Champions League you need to be one of the best teams in your country's pro league, making the 32 team tournament instantly difficult. Imagine if the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB were all leagues of the same sport and the top three/four from each league would make the playoffs? That is what the Champions League essentially is, a collection of the best sporting talent in Europe in one place. To qualify you need to first have a season where you are hands down one of the best in your country, then the next year you get a shot at the Champions League. Then once you are in the Champions League, you still have to manage to compete at the same high level in your league to get back to the CL while focusing on winning the tournament. Both things keep happening simultaneously. You keep trying to get into the Champions League in your domestic season on the weekends while trying to win the Champions League during extra matches during the week. Score some extra degree of difficulty for the tournament.
Once you qualify into the tournament, things don't get any easier. Three home and three away fixtures determine your fate after a draw is done to determine the group stage pool. Every year one of Europe's best fail to make it out of the group stage. Including the English Premier League champions two years in a row with Manchester United failing to advance in 2011/12 and Manchester City finishing last in their group in 2012/13's group stage. Advantage once again to the UCL.
If your team does make it into the knockout stage, things once again do not get any more relaxed. Three rounds of two leg series will stand in your way of the final. With the game's being stand alone events on Tuesday and Wednesday night's away fixtures give you a distinct disadvantage in some of sport's best atmospheres. Combine that with the anything can happen nature of the sport, and you have a situation where to reach the final you must survive six make or break games with the world's best. There are no best of sevens, there are no eight seeds, no cupcakes, no shoo in first round opponents, just the best in the world with two games to prove it and move on to the next round. United just learned this in playing with Real Madrid for 150 minutes to see everything unravel in a nightmare thirty minutes, ending their chances at European glory. Does it get any more difficult than that?
If everything goes your way you get rewarded with a spot in the Champions League Final. A Super Bowl type format in a neutral site on the very last day of the club football schedule, allowing the entire world to watch. Ninety minutes against the two best teams in the world decide the fate of the tournament. It combines all of the elements of every sports championship format into one crazy, ultra competitive tournament. The difficulty of winning a league title is then combined with the 32 team group stage of the World Cup, then combined with the winner take all format of March Madness and the Super Bowl. Also keep in mind this is all during the day in Canada so no work. Bonus.
The Champions League is the perfect example of everything we love sports. It is time you start watching, you are missing out on some of the greatest afternoons of your life.
