Big izz, I am not sure what to say about your points, but you seem to be neglecting the fact that there are freer points to be won in domestic leagues than there are in Champs league
To win your domestic league, you don't have to win against your main rivals like Juve did last season, Manu united have been doing for years, but in Cl, you have to get past great teams from different leagues which in my opinion is the way to show you are really the best.
Yes you can win your domestic league and thats gr8 but i have seen so many matches in so many leagues and i can tell you little things like referee's decisions have helped a lot of teams Real Madrid, Juventus, Milan, Juventus, Manchester United to win the league as they always get the decisions against smaller sides
I have noticed you mention Leverkusen a lot, no they are not the most fashionable of teams but they earned their bacon last season and we have to give them credit, they lost in their cup final, they lost the league on the last day, and were beaten finalists against Real Madrid
You will say when they beat us we were depleted, but Leverkusen fans will tell you when we beat them they might have been dispirited with all the postponements that had gone on
Look at their players like Placente, Ze Roberto, Ballack, Basturk, Ramelow and Novotny, they aint bad man
Any team that can score 4 against Liverpool, outplay Man united at old Trafford, beat Depor in Spain 3-1 , defeated Barcelona and take the great Real Madrid all the way deserves their success
Now compare that to Juventus, didn't win a single game away in Europe, blaming injuries on Cl exit, when we are 10 times richer than Bayer.
You have to have quality and i don't care how you guys colour it, its something we lack at this point in time, if Dp is having a bad day, thats almost 80% of our creativity gone
When the draw was made i did expect us to win the group, but i didn't count on our lack of genuine quality and sadly its not a squad that has been improved on considerably
This squad never gives up and thats why they won the league, but having the quality to defeat big teams, is something we lack and sadly in Cl.
Just think about this with what you said, Lazio had a horrendous season but were just 3 points away fron Cl position, thats how a league format works