There is, however, an acknowledgement that changes are needed to the Europa League if it is to prosper. As such, Uefa is likely to offer a place in the Champions League to both finalists in the competition from 2015 in a bid to increase its allure.
Clubs in England have particular issues with the competition because of the already crowded fixture calendar, which is less of an issue in Spain and Italy. The lure of a place in the following season's Champions League would increase its appeal to sponsors and television audiences.
They have discussed the possibility of expanding Champions League and scrapping Europa altogether, which is unlikely and foolish in my opinion. I do think there is some merit in awarding CL places to the two finalists. Decision to be made in 2014.
is it that difficult for UEFA to make the Europa League winners qualify for next season's Champions League? Maybe it won't make a huge difference, but I'm sure teams like Liverpool then (just using n example) will take it more seriously as they are unlikely to finish 4th in the EPL. Teams like Inter or Bayer Leverkusen who are on pace to qualify for the CL through their league might still not take it seriously but it will be a huge incentive for many clubs
I also think they need to either reduce the amount of teams or just make it a straight knockout tournament like it was about 10 years ago
Am I the only one who misses the original CL format, when it was called " Coupe d'Europe des Clubs Champions", and you only had the Champion of each country
Yeah, back then, you had to be national champ to be a part of it, you had to deserve it
Now, you are 2nd, 3rd, 4th and you participate in the "Champion's League" .... smh
How can you be part of the Champion's League if you are not a champion?
Am I the only one who misses the original CL format, when it was called " Coupe d'Europe des Clubs Champions", and you only had the Champion of each country
Yeah, back then, you had to be national champ to be a part of it, you had to deserve it
Now, you are 2nd, 3rd, 4th and you participate in the "Champion's League" .... smh
How can you be part of the Champion's League if you are not a champion?
Agreed, but it shows how tough "those" leagues are with 3rd-4th place teams making the CL.
I don't mind the top 2, but I want to see more of the champs of the smaller leagues like Belgium, Poland, and Southern Europe countries.
Agreed, but it shows how tough "those" leagues are with 3rd-4th place teams making the CL.
I don't mind the top 2, but I want to see more of the champs of the smaller leagues like Belgium, Poland, and Southern Europe countries.
I agree
But while it's nice to see a 3rd- 4th place team winning the CL, (hey I enjoyed the run made by Chelsea last season, who would have thought),it can lower some team's ambitions in their respective leagues, making a league less competitive
" eeeh, we'll just finish 3rd and see if can win the CL next year, if some other team eliminates Barca or Real "
Am I the only one who misses the original CL format, when it was called " Coupe d'Europe des Clubs Champions", and you only had the Champion of each country
Yeah, back then, you had to be national champ to be a part of it, you had to deserve it
Now, you are 2nd, 3rd, 4th and you participate in the "Champion's League" .... smh
How can you be part of the Champion's League if you are not a champion?
Nope, you're not alone. I've said it a thousand times. Old format was better, especially with the knockout all around. Anything could happen, and in fact the best team rarely won it and in any case, we didn't find the same 8 teams every year in the quarters.
Nope, you're not alone. I've said it a thousand times. Old format was better, especially with the knockout all around. Anything could happen, and in fact the best team rarely won it and in any case, we didn't find the same 8 teams every year in the quarters.
Only the winner should qualify for the Champions League. Means it's worth more to win it. Another place can then be given in a random draw to a random nation to balance it out.
They try to fix it every two or three years. The reason it doesn't work as well as the CL is because it's smaller clubs and there's nothing they can do to it unless they bring back the Coupe des Coupes for national cup winners only and the Champions league for champions only.
One european cup would be fine.
What's the point of having two competitions since the CHAMPIONS' League isn't made of CHAMPIONS anyway?
Might as well put up a european competition for the top clubs.
In principle I agree, but it could be improved as is! Qualify the semi, quarter finalists, finalists, winner only for the CL, take your pick...instant upgrade.
I like that there are two cups. As for the CL, I think the name should be changed to "The European Cup" since it's no longer just champions participating. I'm fine with that btw, and IMO it'd be easier for a club like Barça to win it were it just champions participating. I think the current format for the CL makes it more interesting and a lot more difficult to win. Sure you see a lot of the same clubs in the knockout stages, but you'd likely get that these days anyway, just to a lesser extent. Of course that would raise the profile of the Europa League with the bigger clubs participating, but I think the CL's current format gives you the best of the best when you get to the semifinal round or so and IMO that's what you want.
As for the Europa League, I'm not so sure it needs a lot of help. I mean if people actually watch the matches there's plenty of entertainment to be had and some clubs have done well in it the past few years and even used it as a springboard for the CL. I think one improvement would be an automatic CL place, qualification round or otherwise, for the winner and the winner only as Shrimper said. While I think it's a bit unfair for the CL teams to get a second shot in the Europa League, it does make things interesting. I mean how great was it to see Athletic put Man Utd out last season? I'm torn on that point though.
One european cup would be fine.
What's the point of having two competitions since the CHAMPIONS' League isn't made of CHAMPIONS anyway?
Might as well put up a european competition for the top clubs.
THAT would be fun, and I think is everyone's fantasy one day. Would probably cripple domestic comps though
Quote:
Originally Posted by Live in the Now
Europa League should be turned into a knockout only competition.
Like it used to be........
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evilo
Nope, you're not alone. I've said it a thousand times. Old format was better, especially with the knockout all around. Anything could happen, and in fact the best team rarely won it and in any case, we didn't find the same 8 teams every year in the quarters.
While unpredictability is generally good, surely a competition is inherently flawed if the best team 'rarely' wins? The occasionally upset is fine, but 'rarely'?
While unpredictability is generally good, surely a competition is inherently flawed if the best team 'rarely' wins? The occasionally upset is fine, but 'rarely'?
In the last editions of the real C1 here are the teams that won :
- Red Star over OM 0-0 ps -> OM and Bayern were the best teams that year.
- Milan over Benfica 1-0 -> OM and Bayern were probably the best that year as well.
- Milan over Steaua Bucarest 4-0 -> Milan and Real were the best teams.
- PSV over Benfica 0-0 ps -> Real and Bayern were the best teams.
- Porto over Bayern 2-1 Bayern and Real were the best teams as well.
- Steaua Bucarest over Barca 0-0 ps -> Bayern, Barca and Juve were the best teams.
Funny, normally it's Chinese and Eastern European betting cartels discussing how to fix the Europa League.
Seriously though, the only way the Europa League becomes a "big-time" competition is if you create an incentive that makes it at least as important as trying to win a CL spot in the league. That can mean a CL spot for the Finalists, that can mean improved prize money.
They won't mess with number of teams in the CL or K.O.-only formats, because those things are what they are for a reason, the old formats didn't generate nearly enough money. And if you are quite honest, most viewers would easily prefer Barcelona vs Man United or vs Bayern (all non-champions this year) over Montpelier vs CFR Cluj.
While unpredictability is generally good, surely a competition is inherently flawed if the best team 'rarely' wins? The occasionally upset is fine, but 'rarely'?
__________________ “It’s embarrassing. I’m embarrassed to be here right now. It’s not even funny. And it’s just embarrassing, the way we, you know, the energy we have in the room and the way we approach practices and the way we approach this game. It’s not how you’re going to win any games in this league." - Jean-Sebastien Giguere, April 8 2013
