The Champions league just gets better and better as each year passes and this year in particular, the level of competition has risen, as we have witnessed some of the weaker teams in the past show that they can compete with the "big boys".
That being said I am using current French Ligue 1 Champions and league leaders Bordeaux as an example. Who would have thought in a group that has heavyweights Juventus and Bayern Munich, that Bordeaux would be sitting top of the group with 10 points.
For me this team is a breath of fresh in the Ligue 1, which was dominated by Lyon for the past 7 seasons and the Champions League by showing their grit against teams like Juve and Bayern.
Now Bayern on the other hand has been on a downward spiral, they lost the Bundesliga to Wolfsburg last season, currently sit 5th in the table, 4 points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen and they've lost to Bordeaux in the Champions League both away and at home.
So here is my question, is Bayern playing badly or is Bordeaux on the rise? I tend to believe the latter seeing that Barcelona also lost to one of the minnows, namely Russian Champions Rubin Kazan in the Nou Camp!
Therefore I believe the level of football being played is of a higher standard as the smaller teams have shown and are continuing to show, that they can compete at the highest level.
