If you have been out of the continent for the last couple of days, you may have missed that the Champions League has rolled back around for the all important knock-out phase. Tottenham have the backing of the majority of the country after defeating AC Milan in the first leg at the San Siro, while Arsenal defeated the masters of football in Catalan giants Barcelona. I make it all sound very glamorous, but in seriousness, am I the only one who finds most of Champions League football incredibly boring?

The Champions League is the pinnacle of club football which ever way you look at it. Players want to play in it, clubs want to be in it. But up until recently, English teams haven’t really managed to compete, minus a few exceptions: Manchester United in 1999 and Liverpool in 2005. It would seem the English style just couldn’t cope with the crème of crop from foreign shores. Now, however, we’ve found a way of doing well. We’ve found a way of out-witting the Milan sides, or the magic of Real Madrid. It’s called being boring.

That is a little naïve, I know. Teams have to be tactically astute to cope with the demands of European football these days, so the old ethos of ‘let’s just have a go’ is no longer able to withstand the ultimate test. Saying that, Tottenham have been refreshingly honest in their pursuit of the unlikeliest of European glories this season, as that is the exact attitude they have taken into all of their games. They have translated Premier League form into the European game, and they currently fare no worse than Manchester United or Chelsea do. The only difference is Harry Redknapp’s sides exploits against Werder Bremen and Inter Milan were a lot more entertaining than any other Champions League game we’ve seen this season.

My point is, Spurs aside, Champions League fixtures no longer fill me with the excitement they used to. Tuesday and Wednesday nights used to make for good sporting entertainment. Now, part of me is tempted to flick the channel over to find out if anyone survived that tram crash on Coronation Street or not. (I’m joking, of course).

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The Premier League on the other hand, with all it’s flaws, still provides us with that unpredictable factor. The smaller teams can beat the big guns. We have derby clashes, players moving clubs, managers going back to former teams, and most importantly we have attacking sides scoring plenty of goals – a far cry from Champions League football, Tottenham aside.

For any fans of the four English sides taking part in the Champions League this season, they will all tell you it will be a dream come true for their side to be crowned the best team in Europe. Of course it would, what a status for your club to hold. But what about everybody else? What would they rather watch on TV this week? Arsenal and Barcelona play the chess version of football, or Birmingham and Newcastle have a right go at each other?

For all of the quality on show at the San Siro and The Emirates over the last couple of days, if I really think about it, a muddy, wet St Andrews isn’t such a bad choice. It may be miles away from Barcelona in quality, but it sure is entertaining. Robin van Persie v Lionel Messi or Obafemi Martins v Nile Ranger? Not such an easy decision after all…

The article was written by James Ireson for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.

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