With the next World Cup starting in June this year, the debate over whether the UEFA Champions League is better than the World Cup has been lively.
Chelsea manager José Mourinho recently said that the Champions League is now better than the World Cup because the teams in it are at a higher level than the national teams who cannot buy the best players. Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson agrees with him.
There is some bias in this statement and it is selfish, as Europeans have long tried to convince the world that Europe ประวัติทีมบาเยิร์นมิวนิค.
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I do not agree with Mourinho because a comparison between the two competitions and a look at the figures refute his argument.
First: level of play: European clubs have the best players, but also the World Cup. But soccer is a game and the team with the best players is not necessarily the best team.
The best evidence we have is the Club World Cup when the winner of the Champions League competes against the champions of other confederations and here the Europeans have only won 5 of the 9 tournaments.
The World Cup and the Champions League have strong teams and teams with weak squads. But the former has a higher level of football because it has all the best players who play for their respective nations and each country has its own style of play. Teams play with a deep commitment to the flag knowing that the best achievement is to win the trophy and be crowned the best in the world.
On the other hand, in the Champions League, the teams are a mix of players from different countries with different styles of play and the players have no connection to the club they represent except for a contract and you can always move to a new club in the next season.
For example, with Brazil Neymar plays a fluid style with freedom to roam the entire pitch. But when he plays for Barcelona he is trapped in the band and relegated to helping Messi, making him less effective.
Second, Universal vs City Based: The World Cup spans the entire world, including more than 200 countries in Europe, Africa, North and South America, Asia, and Oceana. It shows the different styles of soccer as it is played around the world, increasing its competitiveness and color.
In addition to this, FIFA now plans to expand the tournament to guarantee underrepresented areas such as the Caribbean Football Union region and Oceana, a full place in the tournament.
By contrast, the Champions League is limited to just 32 cities in Europe and where fan support is largely limited to the city where the club is based.