Only Good Stickers: Topps Champions League 2017

giovedì 22 giugno 2017

Topps Champions League 2017

Topps proposed for the Champions League 2016/2017 a completely renovated sticker collection. The album and stickers have a larger size and the release anticipated to compete against Panini FIFA 365. However, the outcome is everything but positive. With the early release, the group composition was not yet known and the play-off qualifying teams are in a separate section, which appears after the regular teams. The number of stickers apparently increased to 592, but considering that all the player stickers are only half size sticker, the real number of full size stickers of this collection is only 312. Moreover, the hardcover version of the album was not released.

The album opens with the contents and two introductory shining stickers: the Champions League trophy and logo. Then the 22 teams directly qualified to the group stage are shown in alphabetical order. Each team is displaced over two pages with a total of 10 full size stickers: a shiny sticker with the club badge and the home kit, the star player (shining sticker), and 8 stickers including a total of 16 players.

The play-off qualifying teams are relegated at the end of the album. These 10 teams include 8 stickers each: a shining sticker with the badge and the home kit and 7 stickers with a total of 14 players.

The group composition is included in the "Road to Cardiff" section and it can be completed with the mini-stickers of the clubs included with the album. In this section there is also a shining sticker of the National Stadium of Wales, where the final 2017 was played (Real Madrid - Juventus = 3-1).

The last part of the album presents an overview of the previous season. First the "Final Milano 2016" with 7 stickers of the penalty victory of Real Madrid agains Atletico Madrid. Then the Women's Champions League with the victory of Olympique Lyonnais (one shining sticker) and the UEFA Youth League with the victory of Chelsea (one shining stickers).