Learner podcast 7 – 2007~8 – Champions’ League

Here is the seventh learner's podcast. In it we look at the Champion's League. Try out our worksheets or online quiz to help you practice your listening and vocabulary skills. If you click on the audio when it is playing on an iPod you can see the transcript below as you listen. It's a great way to practice listening and fluency. Transcript That was Pipo Inzaghi winning last year's Champions League title for his club AC Milan and with this season's competition about to get underway, the languagecaster team will be spending the next couple of weeks focusing on the competition that Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, suggested is bigger and better than the World Cup. Or is it? There are many critics of the competition who feel that the Champions League is too long, has too much money and that the opening stages are boringly predictable. Damian: Are you excited by the whole competition? Niall: No, it's quite dull actually in the opening rounds. I don't see the point of it at all. It?s just boring, cannon fodder for the big teams. It?s dull, the same old faces every single year - just an opportunity for them to make loads of money at the expense of the home leagues. This predictability has affected attendances, with English club Chelsea having their lowest crowd for five years to watch them open their Champions League campaign against minnows Rosenburg of Norway this week. And the fact that there were empty seats in the games at Marseilles in France and even the defending champions Milan. Another reason for this is the dominance of television with every match being shown live across the continent. But maybe there is a danger of the competition losing its glamour as there are far too many teams that simply are not good enough for taking part. Niall: How can a team that comes fourth win the Champions League? You're not even champions of your home country, it's ridiculous. Only the champions of each team (country) should be able to enter and that?s it. Damian: There are other murmurs of discontent as the dominance of the major clubs remains unchallenged. Clubs from England, Spain, Italy and, to a lesser extent, Germany have dominated this competition since the format changed from a straight knock-out to a league system and there is little to suggest that this year?s tournament will be any different.