Club Brugge v Aston Villa: Champions League – live
⚽ Champions League news from the 5.45pm BST kick-off⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Instagram | Read Football Daily♫ ♪ The champions ♫ ♪ ! Bigger Cup is back, baby! Red-hot action from the world’s premier club competition across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Bigger Vase and Tin Pot clubs must wait for their slice of European action until after an international break almost as long as the Geopolitics World Cup itself. Rather like Gianni Infantino’s North American investment roadshow, Bigger Cup, with its revolving Swiss system, 36 teams reduced to 24 following 114 matches, has become baggier than MC Hammer’s trousers [now there’s a reference for the young readers – Football Daily Ed]. Back in Clive Tyldesley’s ITV pomp, ties such as Liverpool v Atlético, Napoli v Arsenal, and Real Madrid v Inter moved the dial, filling boozers and column inches.Now, paywalled away and despite the whir of Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist’s unrelenting hype machine, these nights can feel more routine, a golden goose not so much terminated as gathering dust on the mantelpiece. A trinket retaining monetary value but not as cherished as it once was. That holders PSG are so minted they can afford to play separate teams across Ligue 1 and Bigger Cup says much about modern football, where clubs and competitions have become content providers feeding an attention economy. In this case, that attention will run a deficit until, just like the GWC, the juice is in the knockout stages. There are, though, different dimensions to take solace in. Continue reading...
