Although I admit that the standard of the competition has improved since the olden days , for me it only gets interesting at the knockout stages . All those group games are dull and pointless , we all know who is going to qualify .
The old competiton when it was only the league champions that qualified , and each round was a 2 legged knockout , was so much more exciting . Every game mattered , and every game you were on the verge of elimination .
Because only the champions got in the European Cup , this also meant you had a higher standard of team in the UEFA Cup , so that was a better competiton . I couldn't even tell you who won last year's Uefa Cup , it's become the Carling Cup of Europe .
Of course it will never change , unless the "Big" clubs decide to breakaway and form their own Euro League , but I'd like to see a return to the old European competiton .
