Europe's second premier club competition is not far away from reaching the knockout rounds.
The UEFA Europa League group stages conclude on Thursday night and for some top clubs, their European adventure may well end much earlier than anticipated.
However, is there any prestige in this competition for let's be honest; the second-rate sides in European club football.
How it was formed?
The UEFA Europa League made its debut on the football scene in the 2009-10 season, following the decision to restructure the UEFA Cup.
Back in the 1990s, there were three European competitions, which were merged into two in 1999, when the Cup Winners' Cup was ditched.
The old UEFA Cup format had an opening first round, a tedious second group phase where losing two of your four group matches was normally okay to progress, then more knockout football until a predictably drab final.
British success in this competition has been mixed in more recent years.
Liverpool won the UEFA Cup in 2001 following that amazing 5-4 final against Alaves in Dortmund.
Celtic, Rangers and Middlesbrough made it all the way to the final but lost and of recent times, British sides have failed to get to the last eight of the Europa League.
The last side to have any success was Roy Hodgson's Fulham, who suffered agony in extra-time against Atletico Madrid in the 2010 final.
A demanding schedule
The format of the UEFA Europa League (the match ball pictured) does make the competition a bit more entertaining to watch, despite the demanding schedule.
Four qualifying rounds are followed by 48 teams proceeding into a typical group stage. 12 groups of four teams, with the sides competing playing each other home and away, like the Champions League, keep clubs busy before the New Year.
After Christmas, the 24 sides that ended first and second in their groups go into the third round, joined by the eight ‘lucky losers’ who finished third in their UEFA Champions League groups.
From there on, knockout football takes place until the final in May, which this year, will be held in Amsterdam.
This season, the competition does seem to have taken on more significance for the established elite.
Some sides like PSV Eindhoven and Udinese will be departing after Thursday's action, but they were in tough groups this time around.
Out of the top seeds, only Sporting Lisbon have made a real mess of things and have been eliminated without putting up much of a fight.
Plenty of British interest
Newcastle United have already qualified for the last 32, while Tottenham only need a point from Thursday's action to seal their place into the knockout stages.
They could be joined by Liverpool, but the Reds fate is more firmly in the balance, depending on their result in Italy against Udinese.
After their disappointing Champions League campaigns, Chelsea and Manchester City could well be in this tournament come 2013, as could Celtic if they don't get the right result against Spartak Moscow in their final Champions League group match.
With the extra demand on playing Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons so far, most Premier League managers could see playing in the Europa League being a poisoned chalice rather than a reward and I can’t blame them.
A successful side could face an excess of 20 extra matches to their fixture list, which is far too much for any European competition.
Alan Pardew has made some smart tactical decisions, although their European form hasn't been recaptured in the Premier League this season.
Brendan Rodgers has preferred to take his Liverpool youngsters to away matches and they have impressed, while former winner with FC Porto, Andre Villas-Boas has played a full-strength Tottenham side from the outset of the group stages.
Previous disappointment
Despite the added demand, clubs in previous seasons have not treated the competition with the respect it does deserve.
Once you are in it, you should do what you can to win it and it can provide memorable moments for the fans on the road to Amsterdam.
This is also the perfect competition to blood some of the youngsters from English squads into battle.
The likes of Steven Caulker, Shane Ferguson and Jonjo Shelvey have taken their chances in the competition this season with some aplomb.
It could also be the perfect ground for bigger transfer moves. For example, Chris Smalling would have never got his move to Manchester United two seasons ago, had he not featured for Fulham in the early stages of the 2009-10 run to the Hamburg final under Hodgson.
It is encouraging to see youth given a go on the European stage. However, I would hope that Champions League dropouts take the competition seriously after Christmas. If you don't like it, don't bother qualifying for it.
Atletico Madrid are probably favourites to retain the Europa League but with the likes of Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen, Lyon, Inter Milan and Fenerbahce having already qualified, plus the sides that potentially could drop into the competition - this could be the most competitive edition of the UEFA Europa League.
I think UEFA have found the right balance and don’t need to make swift changes to the UEFA Europa League.
It works well and this season, clubs competing seem to have taken winning the trophy far more seriously.
By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Comments
Post a Comment