These are the chaaaampions. The champions.
Ever since I heard that Champions League theme way back in the day one night in 1997 on, I think the old CCV TV channel, I was hooked.
It seemed so random, here was a European Cup match between Newcastle and Barcelona and Faustino Aprilla scored a hattrick to down the Catalans 3-2.
I thought to myself, I have to remember to check next week again.
They were just random games on a week night. Now it’s event television – must watch.
And every football club wants a piece of the pie.
In the Premier League right now, the battle for qualification is raging – with four teams fighting one final spot in the top four.
It’s been called the spot no one wants, with each team stumbling just when it seems in their grasp.
But rather than talk about who will claim the Holy Grail, let’s talk about what it would mean to each if they actually got hold of it.
After an alarming slide of three straight losses, Arsenal are back in pole position for the final
Champions League spot thanks to wild wins over Chelsea and United in the last week.
But with more tough games in their final five fixtures, die koel is noggie deurie kerk virrie Gunners nie.
Key clashes against rivals West Ham this weekend and Spurs will be followed by a final-day clash with Newcastle.
If Mikel Arteta’s manne do hang on, they will feel that their rebuild is ahead of schedule.
They spent £150m at the start of the season on players but by the end of January, they were the youngest squad in the Prem.
Champions League football will be a tough playground for these laaities.
But competing in Europe and at the top of the Prem can attract the star quality and the depth that Arteta needs to get Arsenal fighting for trophies where top clubs like Liverpool and Manchester City pick and choose what silverware they want.
Ai. How tough is it for Spurs fans?
Just when it was starting to look like Antonio Conte was rukking dinge reg, the Italian is rumoured to be making ogies at Paris St Germain.
What’s more is that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy will welcome back Mauricio Pochettino after firing him three years ago – with Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo in between. Mal.
But if Conte goes, will star Harry Kane finally also go?
Spurs are in a permanent state of flux since Poch’s departure.
And Champions League might just mean a paar new big names rather than sensible and sustainable team-building.
Spurs have some great players but you always get the feeling that it's now or never for these manne.
Perhaps they should consider a more long-term approach or they might just be clutching at straws again once their European adventure is done.
While the odds of a return to the Champions League get longer with each poor result, this is all hypothetical.
So for a start, Mr Champions League will stay.
Let’s get it out of the way, Cristiano Ronaldo will almost certainly leave if United don’t qualify for “his” competition.
But having Ronaldo at the club when new boss Erik Ten Hag arrives will be interesting.
Ten Hag is meticulous enough to design a plan that can get the best out of Ronaldo without asking him to do all the pressing and defensive work.
But will it get the best out of United?
At 37, Ronaldo is not the future and that's what Ten Hag has been brought in to build.
United will be as attractive as ever with Champions League on offer and it would be interesting to see who they bring in.
But they will have to be
players with loads of energy, who are coachable and who realise what levels they have to reach to compete with the likes of Liverpool and City.
The Hammers might seem way off from the top at the moment, being eight points off fourth with just four games remaining.
But they have another route to the tournament.
All they need to do is make it through the Europa League semi-finals, lift the trophy after the final and then it’s Hammers time.
David Moyes has done a great job in London and it just goes to show what he is capable of if he given the environment he had at Everton.
Champions League football will help him hang onto star performers Jarrod Bowen and Declan Rice and of course attract the right kind of players to strengthen a taai squad.
They do play like underdogs, but we’ve seen with the likes of Atalanta and Villarreal recently that focusing on the football side of being a football club and innovating with tactics and outcasts is great for growth and results.