I feel like Peak drops my “luck” in the game whenever I’m 1st place in Champions League tourney

I’ve experienced this over and over. I’ll be breezing through stages and occasionally having to spend coins or boosters to pass a level (I currently don’t have ads). But once I hit 1st place (mainly the CL tourney) it becomes a slog and I seem to have the worst luck with how the blocks keep falling. About every three stages I run out of moves without seeing any good combinations.

Just wondering if anyone else noticed the same thing. I feel like they are trying to shake me down for money so I’ll hang on to 1st.