Grande_Milano wrote:I will repeat again, unless Bundesliga builds another superclub, they are 4th league in the world. You can be ''profitable'' and ''unused marketing opps'' all you want.

Well, the 5-year ranking says otherwise. And now don't come with "Italian clubs don't take the EL serious" - they know how the ranking works and if they shun the EL anyway, it is their fault. Fact is, Serie A has less points than the BL, thus the BL outranks Serie A and that's because the BL clubs overall were more successful in width.

Despite the crisis that hit Italian league with midtable teams getting weaker and weaker, Roma, Juventus, Inter, Milan will stay strong. Germany?

Well, atm Inter doesn't look so strong - and for a while now. Yes, they kicked out Bayern in the CL but last years win against Bayern was more due to the fact that Bayern defeated themselves. Inter showed their real problems when faced with Schalke. This season, Inter's start didn't look exactly promising either.

As for Dortmund - well, they are really plagued with injuries atm. AFAIK they have three more players now that might not play the next match, so they don't have a problem in tactics or coach, but with bad luck right away. Replacing up to 5 first team starters in a team is no small feat after all.

And mind you, in Germany there are several teams that suddenly come up pretty strong in the league and they can be a surprise in Europe, too, like Hannover defeating Sevilla in the EL qualification.

BTW, I'm positively surprised at Napoli. They look really good atm, and I'm looking forward to seeing the Bayern-Napoli matches in the CL!

When a German team wins the CL again .. Hoeness can start talking like this ...

rwo power wrote:Well, atm Inter doesn't look so strong - and for a while now. Yes, they kicked out Bayern in the CL but last years win against Bayern was more due to the fact that Bayern defeated themselves. Inter showed their real problems when faced with Schalke. This season, Inter's start didn't look exactly promising either.

As for Dortmund - well, they are really plagued with injuries atm. AFAIK they have three more players now that might not play the next match, so they don't have a problem in tactics or coach, but with bad luck right away. Replacing up to 5 first team starters in a team is no small feat after all.

And mind you, in Germany there are several teams that suddenly come up pretty strong in the league and they can be a surprise in Europe, too, like Hannover defeating Sevilla in the EL qualification.

BTW, I'm positively surprised at Napoli. They look really good atm, and I'm looking forward to seeing the Bayern-Napoli matches in the CL!

EL doesnt matter. Dortmund needs to preserve their squad and not sell their best players for 10 m. Surprises like Werder in 00s and Schalke last season, are just surprises, same as Napoli. There is no team in Germany that consistently delivers for years and years. Juventus will get into CL and get back on track, Milan will imptove and Moratti will not let Inter to sink, while Roma with its investors needs time.

Well, Dortmund will likely preserve their squad now that all players have longer contracts and no buy-out clauses anymore. The last buy-out clause what that of Mats Hummels and Dortmund bought that back from him. They had to let Sahin go as the player had this buy-out clause in his contract (actually it was a high sum when it was put in while Sahin was still 18 or 19 and no one knew how he might develop).

The other Borussia is currently working on extending the contracts of their young key players, too, and I have high hopes they will develop into something of a dark horse this season.

BTW - whether EL doesn't matter or not, fact is that unfancied Hannover kicked out Sevilla, a club with some pedigree. The current coach of Hannover is doing quite a good job atm, we have to watch how they will develop in longer term.

rwo power wrote:Well, atm Inter doesn't look so strong - and for a while now. Yes, they kicked out Bayern in the CL but last years win against Bayern was more due to the fact that Bayern defeated themselves. Inter showed their real problems when faced with Schalke. This season, Inter's start didn't look exactly promising either.

As for Dortmund - well, they are really plagued with injuries atm. AFAIK they have three more players now that might not play the next match, so they don't have a problem in tactics or coach, but with bad luck right away. Replacing up to 5 first team starters in a team is no small feat after all.

And mind you, in Germany there are several teams that suddenly come up pretty strong in the league and they can be a surprise in Europe, too, like Hannover defeating Sevilla in the EL qualification.

BTW, I'm positively surprised at Napoli. They look really good atm, and I'm looking forward to seeing the Bayern-Napoli matches in the CL!

RWO = GODDESS

If Bundesliga tweaked their TV revenue and bumped up ticket prices like in England, they'd challenge the PL, IMO.

It's not happening any time soon, that's the problem. They make up for it the extreme ammount of youth talent available, at least.

I'm flattered *blush*

Well, frankly, I don't think raising the ticket prices is a good idea in the BL.

The best way to go is to establish the BL brand internationally and market the BL there for extra TV revenue. The TV revenue coming out of proper international marketing should easily suffice to propel the BL up to the highest spheres.

Well... we're getting full BL coverage here next season, so they seem to be making progress