Can't win Champions League

I have played even with Barca (5 season) and i didn't won. My squad was i dream team but in vain...i had win spanish league in every year and the spanish cup, but can't win Ch.L. Almost always in semifinal after i win first leg (sometime with 4-1 or 3-0 ) in the second i lose 4-0 or something like that. and when i finally made i lost the final.

i have played with other good team like Chelsea or Milan and is the same. can't win the CH.L. ... for me is imposible...

I have played even with Barca (5 season) and i didn't won. My squad was i dream team but in vain...i had win spanish league in every year and the spanish cup, but can't win Ch.L. Almost always in semifinal after i win first leg (sometime with 4-1 or 3-0 ) in the second i lose 4-0 or something like that. and when i finally made i lost the final.

i have played with other good team like Chelsea or Milan and is the same. can't win the CH.L. ... for me is imposible...

Try to adjust your tactics. If you want you can also look at the Tactics Forum.

it's not easy to win CL ire isn't? that must be a chalange for you, realy. it's good you can't win it, but if you try enough you will, eventualy.

Interestingly, there is little doubt in my mind that , even with a superior team, the CL is probably the most difficult to win- all the more satisfying when you do, though!

i reached the final 4 times in 8 years with arsenal in fm07... lost 3 on penalties after dominating, and lost 6-0 to man united after going on holiday for the six games before the final (assman messed up form and morale, the bugger). 3 of the finals were against united.

the last was against lazio, but i saved before the final. so what i did was save the loss under a different gamesave name, and reload the original game and replayed the final. lost the second one, so i went back to the post final original save (i just wanted to see how different tactics worked).

in fm07, i went 4 years without winning anything at real madrid, then i won the champions league in my 5, along with the spanish cup, and went on a domination streak for the next two league seasons. having not won the league previously, i won back to back titles by 20+ points, winning 37/38 home games.

so it seems that winning the champions league makes your team super invincible, so the game won't allow itself to be dominated

saying that, i've won 2/3 titles at arsenal in fm08 and haven't reached the semi-final stage of the CL yet.

Sounds like it is at least a more realistic change from some previous versions then were winning the Champions league was often easier than winning your domestic league!

Its deffeiently harder to win the champions league this year than the last couple of versions.

It took me 8 attempts to win the Champs League with my Ajax team - just keep plugging away and you'll do it, as long as you improving your squad each year.

If you're getting to the semis and winning the first leg by large margins, you should really be able to progress - I would suggest playing a largely defensive tactic in the second leg, but with counter-attacking.

Remember, if you are 3-4 goals up from the first leg, your opponents will really have to go all out to get a result - this is when they are most vulnerable to a counter attack.

i've always found it hard to win a european trophy...

I found it hard with my teams in my long running FM07 game, but then I've never been all that fussed with Europe. That said, I still tried to win every game, whatever the competition so it's not like I sent out a weakened team, I just shrugged and moved on when my Derby County team would come unstuck every season, usually after looking like world beaters in the group stage, only to blow it in one of the knock-out rounds.

For a number of seasons the league cup was a higher priority than the Champions League though for me.

i just lost the champions league final with Barcelona to the club i support! Arsenal. However with Arsenal on a previous save I won the CL final after being 2-0 down to AC Milan with 5 minutes to go - i couldnt believe it when I saw it.

Arsenal are idiotically good in the champions league in my FM07 save - they have been to something like 10 of the last 15 finals and won about half of those

Lost in the 6th round of the FA Cup - 3rd Round of the League Cup (to City) - Second in the league by 3 pts behind Arsenal... but won the CL last night. Beat Arsenal 1-0 in the final with a Rooney wunder-goal.

EPL next season is the aim.

In FM07 and before it was relatively easy to win the champions league, but the difficulty in FM08 is what makes it a great achievement when you do win it.

I seem to get slated when I mention the "tactics" word, but it is true when it comes to the champions league. If you are Barcelona or any of the other great attacking teams in the game, you will have tuned your tactics to play attacking football and you'll no doubt win most games. This will also have the effect of increasing your reputation (to almost maximum) which then means that teams will sit back and soak up the pressure - and then hit you on the break. This is a good tactic against Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter and Man Utd and one that I use as Valencia.

So, you can use the same formation, etc, but when it comes to the champions league quarter final and beyod, try to think about the following changes:

- Slightly deeper defensive line

- Less forward runs from defenders

- Less closing down by the team as a whole (helps keep your shape defensively)

- Less tempo

You don't have to make huge changes but these will help improve your chances.

And one final thing is to use the media. I hate the media section personally, but although I can't stand it, I realise I have to use it to gain an advantage. What I mean by this is that if you are winning 4-0 from the first leg and then the opposition turns it around in the second, it would suggest that there is complacency in your team and a "fired up" attitude from the opposition. If you search these forums, you'll find a great thread on using the media to gain an advantage. Make sure your players are warned of complacency and that the opposition is in fear and you'll find that second leg turnarounds are a thing of the past.

p.s. Although Barca has the best team in the game (in my opinion), it is actually quite hard sometimes to win with the bigger teams due to the tactics the AI deploys against the higher reputation teams. It makes it a difficult challenge therefore to win the CL with all teams - which is the way it should be.

So you're complaining because you have failed to win the CL in5 seasons just because you are playing as Barca?

That's pathetic. You shouldn't be guaranteed to win the CL just because you are a top team. What would be the fun in that? It's up to you to be a good enough manager.

Milan

Porto

Liverpool

Barcelona

Milan

Those are the last five winners. Are you saying it's unrealistic because in the last 5 years Real Madrid haven't won the CL? or Man Utd, Arsenal, Inter?

Stop complaining about such stupid trivial things and enjoy the fact that the game isn't so easy that it is actually still a hard feat to win the CL with someone like Barcelona.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by sebsy:

So you're complaining because you have failed to win the CL in5 seasons just because you are playing as Barca?

That's pathetic. You shouldn't be guaranteed to win the CL just because you are a top team. What would be the fun in that? It's up to you to be a good enough manager.

Milan

Porto

Liverpool

Barcelona

Milan

Those are the last five winners. Are you saying it's unrealistic because in the last 5 years Real Madrid haven't won the CL? or Man Utd, Arsenal, Inter?

Stop complaining about such stupid trivial things and enjoy the fact that the game isn't so easy that it is actually still a hard feat to win the CL with someone like Barcelona. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a bit harsh sebsy. I don't think he was moaning about anything trivial. The reason people come on to the forums is for advice or support about something. Got any help to offer him?

i must admit, it's more realistic that english teams aren't dominating europe like they were in fm07. so when i eventually win the CL if i'm fussed to go back to my arsenal game, it will feel like more of an acheivement for english football

since pitch dimensions seem to make that much of a difference (in my game, anyway), if and when i do get to the CL final, i will probably have the appropreate tactic. in my 3rd season at arsenal, i lost the fa cup semi at wembley to spurs (ffs) after dominating. i then thrashed them in the charity shield 5-1 simply by using the most appropreate style of play for the wembley pitch.

tbh, i was more geared towards winning the league since i was so far away from it on fm07, but after winning back to back titles i lost interest in that game. this topic has probably got me back into that game just to see if i could win the CL with my stupidly perfect squad. cheers lads.

I'm sorry but having read the OP again, he isn't asking for help, just moaning because he hasn't won the CL, despite playing as Barca, Milan and Chelsea, as if he should be guaranteed to win the CL just because he is playing as one of those sides.

The only advice anyone could give him taking in to account what he has said, is that if he is winning the first leg by a few goals then losing the second leg by 3/4 goals to go out, then he seriously needs to look at his second leg tactics. But that is obvious anyway.

All he has really done is moan that he hasn't won the CL even though he has played as 3 top clubs.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by sebsy:

I'm sorry but having read the OP again, he isn't asking for help, just moaning because he hasn't won the CL, despite playing as Barca, Milan and Chelsea, as if he should be guaranteed to win the CL just because he is playing as one of those sides.

The only advice anyone could give him taking in to account what he has said, is that if he is winning the first leg by a few goals then losing the second leg by 3/4 goals to go out, then he seriously needs to look at his second leg tactics. But that is obvious anyway.

All he has really done is moan that he hasn't won the CL even though he has played as 3 top clubs. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

i understand what you're saying, but some people think that just because they dominate the league they should be able to win everything. although knockout football is quite different to league football, it is difficult to understand the difference for some people, although not realising after 5 seasons that something needs to change is just neglectful.

Jose M, Arsene Wenger, Alex ferguson and Frank rijkaard. Combined total of CL wins : 3

That says it all, it should be bloody hard to win it!!

, Hawshiels, good stuff there.

To the OP - knockout tournaments are notoriously tricky. Luck plays a huge part, and as any fan of the F.A. Cup will tell you, the best team is not guaranteed to win in any given match. Since, to win a knockout tournament, you have to win a number of matches in a row, and only one team can do so .. well, the other 31 are going to go home on a loss.

As Hawshiels says, facing a top team in the C.L. is a lot different from facing a mid-table team in a league match. Its not just your tactics you might want to look at - its your squad selection, your team-talks, your media usage, everything.

In the biggest matches, the mental attributes play a huge role - if your dream-team is built in the "Physical and Technical" world, maybe your team just doesn't have the mental discipline to win on the biggest stage?

Experience is key. Determination is crucial. Decisions are critical. Concentration and Composure, definitely. The hidden "Important Matches" rating is going to play a huge role.

I'd agree with the experience issue.

My talented u20's stunk in cup matches my first season. They were defeated even against weaker opposition. However, they did quite well in league play that same season.

Managing Barcelona, I've now played Real Madrid 10 times. In 7 matches of league play, I have 4 wins and 3 draws. In two Spanish Cup finals and a Champion's League final, I'm 0-3, and in two of those losses RM came from behind in the second half.

I know it is not large enough to be a statistically significant sample, but it does at least suggest that the AI gives itself an edge in a final. Is that anyone else's esperience?

High squad bonuses for continental competitions, I almost scoff that you can't win it with barca, that's not even a challenge.