My thoughts about the two European cups.

[424style]

The Champions League is for me fine as it is. They should discard the away goal rule which is old and to me stupid. Its equally as imporant to score home and away and vice versa defensively.

The Europa League is for me a joke. They (UEFA) seem to treat it as some form of experiment cup. Remember back in 2006/2007 they had 5 teams in each group and the teams only played each other in the groupstage once. So if someone beats you in Athens, then you dont get the right to revenge, luckily they took away that.

The one thing that annoys me is this ridiculous thing where the teams who come 3rd in their respective groups in the CL get to play in the EL K.O. phase. How can they praise a team who has come 3rd? I know money rules but still. This means managers have a hard time planning their campaign if they are in the EL and want to take it seriously. Suddenly UEFA can just throw Juventus or Man Utd on you and the campaign might be spoiled.

I for one would like this done:

Keep the CL as it is.
Throw away the EL where most of the teams competing havent even won silverware the season before.
Take back the Cup Winners Cup so teams that have actually tasted silverware the season before compete each other.

It would be really cool with a CL which has the league format in the earlier stages and a CWC where every round they would have a draw.

 

[beats1]

There is nothing wrong with the Europa League, the fact that the losers of the CL group stage go in to it, makes it look like a second rate trophy and take away the prestige of the trophy

 

[Spurger King]

There is nothing wrong with the Europa League, the fact that the losers of the CL group stage go in to it, makes it look like a second rate trophy and take away the prestige of the trophy

Isn't that what's wrong with the Europa League though?

 

[robbiedee]

There is nothing wrong with the Europa League, the fact that the losers of the CL group stage go in to it, makes it look like a second rate trophy and take away the prestige of the trophy

I like the EL...although the 3rd place finishers from CL groups pisses me off no-end. Look at Chelsea winning it the other year after FAILING in the CL and this year, Liverpool...if they bloody progress with a chance of winning, I'll be well pissed off. They had there shot at European football and screwed it up. Why should they get a second pop?

Also, if we didn't have the CL losers drop down, would I be right in thinking there would be the same amount of rounds as the CL?...maybe not as there are probably more groups to start with...

 

[beats1]

Isn't that what's wrong with the Europa League though?

Depends on how you look at it

I see no issue with the Europa League format however the reason for them doing the 3 place playoff is to make the group stage of the champions league more interesting in so that the 2 bottom teams have something to play for

Take that and the CL group stage gets abit more boring but lets be honest the real reason we like the CL is because of the knockout stage not the group stage unless there is an upset

 

[Spurger King]

Depends on how you look at it

I see no issue with the Europa League format however the reason for them doing the 3 place playoff is to make the group stage of the champions league more interesting in so that the 2 bottom teams have something to play for

Take that and the CL group stage gets abit more boring but lets be honest the real reason we like the CL is because of the knockout stage not the group stage unless there is an upset

For me it's the inclusion of CL drop-outs that massively devalues the EL. Personally I'd love to see it go back to the old UEFA Cup system - no group stages, just a series of home and away knock-out fixtures. Either that or just ditch it altogether and make the CL bigger.

 

[beats1]

For me it's the inclusion of CL drop-outs that massively devalues the EL. Personally I'd love to see it go back to the old UEFA Cup system - no group stages, just a series of home and away knock-out fixtures. Either that or just ditch it altogether and make the CL bigger.

A knockout competition would be a great spectacle but they would probably too scared of watering down the competition. The group stage ensures that the big clubs go through and the small clubs know their place imo

They will never make the CL bigger imo, that would be water down something that makes them too much money

 

[BK007]

The CL dropouts is what makes it worse.

All teams that fail to qualify for CL rounds should be knocked out permanently.