You would probably be aware that the draw for the group stage of the Champions League took place early this morning. The results of the draw, and who each of the 32 clubs will face in Europe’s top football club competition, is given in this BBC Sport website story today.
Being English-based, the website naturally focused on the competition’s English representatives. This is evident because apart from the bit about Real Madrid being pitted against AC Milan, most of the story has an English connection. Even the managers of other continental clubs are interviewed with an English twist, such as Marseille’s chairman saying that he’s looking forward to welcoming Chelsea to France, rather than whether Marseille themselves will progress from their group. It would definitely make the story more balanced if there was a wider representative of non-English clubs talking about their own prospects.
But the headline focusing on Tottenham facing Inter Milan is quite appropriate because amongst the four English representatives, Tottenham are the only ones who are making their debut in the Champions League. So most BBC Sport readers, including those who are not Tottenham fans, would be interested in finding out whether the draw was fair to the London club. Thus, using the photograph of Tottenham celebrating their entry into the Champions League group stages, is relevant because it ties in with the news angle.
But the article lacks a comment from either Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp or Tottenham players about their prospects. As Tottenham is the angle of the story, at least one Tottenham quote should have been obtained.
Overall though, the story is pretty informative, providing not only information about the draw, but some background history, such as the fact that Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has a good relationship with Scottish club Rangers manager, Walter Smith, because the latter was the English club’s assistant manager six years ago. However, the amount of background research could have been more extensive.
the draw this year was more interesting than the last one. but maybe the draw should be too hard for Totenham..
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the original article should be reported after more in depth research
Hmm, after two games, it seems like Spurs have been performing pretty decently in their Champions League debut... second in their group on goal difference is a pretty good position to be in... so guess there's no worries for them so far, but their biggest test will come when they face Inter...
ReplyDeleteIm pretty confident defending champions Inter Milan will top this group but Tottenham will finish second. As a Spurs supporter I will be extremely pleased if they can make it through the first knockout stage, that will no doubt be considered a succcess considering their first appearance in the tournament.
ReplyDeleteYeah, looks like Spurs will have a great debut in the Champions League. Coming second in their group would really be a time to celebrate for them. But their biggest test is yet to come, when they face Inter this week...
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