Two points:

1. I also find it funny that the most prestigious club championship in soccer is determined by “penalties.” When the conversion percentage is so high it’s almost as if you have to get really unlucky or really screw up to not convert. However, I don’t think they should end in a tie and I can’t see them going on for days as they do in hockey (although I did enjoy the 4 OT game between the Stars and Sharks a few weeks back). So I don’t really know of a better way to settle things in this case. Which brings me to…

2. This is the argument that many people have against football OTs. In the NFL a simple coin-flip loss can lead to a quick loss. The NCAA gives both teams a chance, but it is a shortened field which tricks up the game in some ways (sometimes making it a battle of FG kickers, which might be worse than “penalties”). Again, I don’t know the right solution, but I’m not sure anybody’s doing what I would consider ideal.

Before resorting to penalties, they give the teams 30 minutes of extra time (which the ref turned into about 36 on injury time) to sort it out in a dignified, soccer-like manner. Looking at the stats, the two teams covered collectively over 280 km of ground between them. During every break in the last few minutes of play, almost everyone on both teams would buddy up and stretch each other’s various ailments out of their legs. I agree that it seems silly to decide the Champions League on who screws up less at something that’s supposed to be easy, but they couldn’t sort it out in almost 300km of running themselves, and someone has to be the champion (Your argument about not giving out a championship notwithstanding).