Soccer fans ? actually, it?s ?football? for purists ? can get in on the action as top teams from England and Italy compete for European soccer's biggest prize Wednesday.
Despite the fact that Italy?s AC Milan is not leading the Italian League and England?s Liverpool is way behind Manchester United in the Premier League, the two teams will play in the UEFA Champions League final tomorrow in Athens, Greece.
Bet this matchup at betED.com, which has AC Milan as -5-point favorites with the game total at 2.5 (O +110, U -160).
While the game is huge in Europe and for soccer fans around the globe, the title of ?Champions League? is actually a bit misleading, because AC Milan and Liverpool are not currently the two best teams in Europe.
AC Milan hasn't won the Serie A title, essentially the Italian League championship, in three years. And Liverpool hasn't won the English championship since 1990.
The fact is, the format of the Champions League match has changed dramatically over the years. And just like in North America, the changes were largely dictated by TV coverage.
When Europe's premier club competition started in 1955, it was called the European Cup and involved the champions of the major European domestic leagues. As it grew in stature and TV began to take a far bigger interest, however, European soccer's governing body, UEFA, tinkered with the format so teams that made it to the last 16 would play each other in four groups and then revert to elimination play. But the format allowed for the possibility of big clubs getting knocked out during early rounds, and that was of no real interest to TV.
UEFA faced a major problem in the 1990s when the top clubs?mainly from Italy, Spain, England and Germany?were unhappy they didn't make more money from TV revenues and commercial spinoffs. They began to indicate that they wanted to form their own breakaway competition on a league basis.
If that were to happen, the European Champions Cup wouldn't be much of a prize for those who were left. So the UEFA came up with an alternative to stop the big clubs from leaving, and the competition was reconstructed so the champions would be seeded directly into the group phase and play at least six lucrative games before the knockout round.
Despite the fact that Italy?s AC Milan is not leading the Italian League and England?s Liverpool is way behind Manchester United in the Premier League, the two teams will play in the UEFA Champions League final tomorrow in Athens, Greece.
Bet this matchup at betED.com, which has AC Milan as -5-point favorites with the game total at 2.5 (O +110, U -160).
While the game is huge in Europe and for soccer fans around the globe, the title of ?Champions League? is actually a bit misleading, because AC Milan and Liverpool are not currently the two best teams in Europe.
AC Milan hasn't won the Serie A title, essentially the Italian League championship, in three years. And Liverpool hasn't won the English championship since 1990.
The fact is, the format of the Champions League match has changed dramatically over the years. And just like in North America, the changes were largely dictated by TV coverage.
When Europe's premier club competition started in 1955, it was called the European Cup and involved the champions of the major European domestic leagues. As it grew in stature and TV began to take a far bigger interest, however, European soccer's governing body, UEFA, tinkered with the format so teams that made it to the last 16 would play each other in four groups and then revert to elimination play. But the format allowed for the possibility of big clubs getting knocked out during early rounds, and that was of no real interest to TV.
UEFA faced a major problem in the 1990s when the top clubs?mainly from Italy, Spain, England and Germany?were unhappy they didn't make more money from TV revenues and commercial spinoffs. They began to indicate that they wanted to form their own breakaway competition on a league basis.
If that were to happen, the European Champions Cup wouldn't be much of a prize for those who were left. So the UEFA came up with an alternative to stop the big clubs from leaving, and the competition was reconstructed so the champions would be seeded directly into the group phase and play at least six lucrative games before the knockout round.
