Bayern winning 10. The premier league having a “big six” and only 2 different teams qualifying for UCL in years (Leicester and Newcastle). La Liga being a 2 horse race with occasional atletico. Even serie A has 5-6 good teams and every one doesn’t compete. Ligue 1 is only PSG. How do fans just accept that domestic leagues have no parity? There is no feasible way anyone can ever expect Brighton to win the PL when if they have one good year, their best players are bought. Big clubs are insanely well established and small teams can’t complete without getting bought out. It seems so unfair to me. Like, I feel like if the European scene was more fair with better parity, Dortmund should’ve been able to keep Haaland and Bellingham as their 2 starlets. The best example of this is Lewandowksi at Dortmund. He wins the league with Dortmund twice, loses to Bayern in the UCL final, and then just joins the best team. That was the best move for his career. It feels like the scene is just scene so a team like Dortmund can never compete with Bayern. Or how after Real beat Atletico in 2014, Atletico’s keeper joined Real 4 years later, and now Real remains the super team with Atletico just trying to qualify for UCL knockouts.
I’d broadly classify club football fans into 4 major groups: purists, locals, plastics, non EU/SA.
Purists tune into domestic games between the top dogs (Barca v Real, Bayern v Dortmund, top 6 v top 6, etc) or watch teams with some promising talent or their favourite player.
Locals support a club based on a regional connection.
Plastics and non EU/SA likely make up the majority of the fanbase of a popular club and have a relatively superficial connection.
As a somewhat-purist, I don’t get the appeal of domestic leagues and why anyone would support their middle of the pack local club (considering the economics of modern football). What’s the thrill in watching a squad battle relegation for an entire season and not even have an outside chance of qualifying to the UCL let alone win the league. They get their talents poached and seem like fodder for the big dogs. Sure this wasn’t the case when the spending disparity between the richest and poorest club was close but today the gap is so huge it doesn’t even make sense. At what point can this be considered anti-competitive? UCL might as well be the last “true” competition in club football.
It’s completely anti competitive. There is very little reason for anyone to become a Bundesliga fan for reasons apart from fan culture (cuz of 50+1 and cheap tickets). Competition is non existent, it is Bayern’s training ground. Only the UCL still has competition since the teams which farm their own leagues (Big 6, Barca and Madrid, Bayern, PSG) are all equal with each other as being financial heavyweights and can thus fight fairly.
It’s insane to see “die-hard fans” of an average club in the first division of a league be pleased with pulling off a minor upset against a big dog in a season. Maybe cuz I grew up believing that sports is the pinnacle of competition and not merely a bonding exercise for families and cities.