UEFA to Offer Champions League Place to Europa League Winners

[Powder Keg]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/23/uefa-champions-league-europa-league

Other plans under consideration include whether to award a fifth Champions League place to clubs in the big European leagues and to expand the number of Europa League places on offer.

All our worries may be over! Well, that or it's just another way for us to get screwed out of a Champions League spot by cup winners.

 

[talkshowhost86]

Gotten himmel! A sensible decision from UEFA!

Still doesn't prevent the ridiculous situation of Champions League teams dropping into the competition, but it's a step in the right direction.

Does this mean next years winners get in to the 2014-2015 competition or would this only be relevant for the 2015-2016 Champions League?

 

[HappySpur]

Gotten himmel! A sensible decision from UEFA!

Still doesn't prevent the ridiculous situation of Champions League teams dropping into the competition, but it's a step in the right direction.

Does this mean next years winners get in to the 2014-2015 competition or would this only be relevant for the 2015-2016 Champions League?

I read it as the winner of the 2014-15 competition will be the first to go into UCL. It will definitely breathe life into the knock-out stages.

 

[talkshowhost86]

I read it as the winner of the 2014-15 competition will be the first to go into UCL. It will definitely breathe life into the knock-out stages.

In which case I still don't care about next years Europa League.

After that though...wahey!

 

[sweyid]

While I would like a second chance to get into CL, I can't help but feel that this will help to undermine the innate value of the cup. People may call it a tin cup, mickey mouse, shit tournament, second rate yada, I still prayed to the God I don't believe in during the shoot-outs against Basel and I would have LOVED to have gone all the way. It is a cup for those who didn't make it into the CL, but there are some damn fine teams there with some top quality players.

 

[Powder Keg]

Gotten himmel! A sensible decision from UEFA!

Still doesn't prevent the ridiculous situation of Champions League teams dropping into the competition, but it's a step in the right direction.

Does this mean next years winners get in to the 2014-2015 competition or would this only be relevant for the 2015-2016 Champions League?

You're right, you have to go back to the Quarter Finals of this years competition to find teams who were not Champions League drop outs (Group Stage or Qualifying rounds) which were us, Lazio and Newcastle.

 

[talkshowhost86]

While I would like a second chance to get into CL, I can't help but feel that this will help to undermine the innate value of the cup. People may call it a tin cup, mickey mouse, shit tournament, second rate yada, I still prayed to the God I don't believe in during the shoot-outs against Basel and I would have LOVED to have gone all the way. It is a cup for those who didn't make it into the CL, but there are some damn fine teams there with some top quality players.

It isn't though is it?

It's a cup for teams knocked out of the Champions League...and then some others as well. THAT's why it's devalued, not because of the end prize.

 

[nightgoat]

All this means is that in the 2014-15 season we'll finish fourth and the fifth place team will win the Europa League and we'll get screwed out of the Champions League. Again.

 

[EnfieldYiddo]

Finally, will give a bit of legitimacy to the competition, I've been arguing this cause for years.

Next step, stop rewarding the failures of the CL groups a chance in another European competition.

 

[Hoopspur]

So another concept. The last one I'd heard was that they were considering abolishing the Europa all together and increasing the size of the CL by loads. I guess the bigger clubs who got a giant share of the cash objected in that case if this turns out to be the way forward?

 

[archiewasking]

Finally, will give a bit of legitimacy to the competition, I've been arguing this cause for years.

Next step, stop rewarding the failures of the CL groups a chance in another European competition.

Hell no. What if we win the Europa, get in that way, get knocked out of the CL the following season, drop into the Europa, win the thing, get into the CL.................etc. What a rollercoaster ride. With trophies!

 

[Liquidator]

Interesting idea. Before instigating it full-time, perhaps they could trial it by say, giving a CL place to the first ever club to win the UEFA trophy??

 

[HappySpur]

While I would like a second chance to get into CL, I can't help but feel that this will help to undermine the innate value of the cup. People may call it a tin cup, mickey mouse, shit tournament, second rate yada, I still prayed to the God I don't believe in during the shoot-outs against Basel and I would have LOVED to have gone all the way. It is a cup for those who didn't make it into the CL, but there are some damn fine teams there with some top quality players.

I think that the winner of the Europa League are more deserving of a CL spot than the 4th place team in Spain, England or Germany. After all, they are Champions.

And I agree with Chris in that the real devaluation comes from CL rejects getting a second chance. Six times a CL reject has won the Europa League (twice against other rejects). Four times a reject has lost the final. So 10 of the 14 finals since the change have featured a team that failed in the CL.

That's why it's meaningless. A team like Fulham fights its ass off to get to the final and loses to an Atletico team that didn't win a match in the CL. Or Werder wins only one match in CL, while Hamburg grinds through to the semi's beating Gala and City, then get knocked out by Werder on away goals. Werder then go on to make a mess of the final. It's stupid.

 

[WiganSpur]

"Under another expected rule change, teams that win the Champions League or Europa League but finish outside the qualifying places in their domestic campaign will no longer usurp one of their league rivals to take up their place the following season"

 

[nightgoat]

"Under another expected rule change, teams that win the Champions League or Europa League but finish outside the qualifying places in their domestic campaign will no longer usurp one of their league rivals to take up their place the following season"

"Teams which have recently done so are hereby banned from European competition for the next ten years."

 

[Murder She]

Finally, will give a bit of legitimacy to the competition, I've been arguing this cause for years.

Next step, stop rewarding the failures of the CL groups a chance in another European competition.

But you are 'rewarding failure', to an extent, by bringing in a team to an elite competition for winning a cup even though they failed to qualify for it through the same means as every other participant of the CL.

UEFA, quite rightly in my opinion, bring CL teams into the competition to inject quality, and thus interest, into the competition. Would sponsors want to inject money into an event where the latter stages are going to be contested by mainly second rate teams?

 

[nightgoat]

Finally, will give a bit of legitimacy to the competition, I've been arguing this cause for years.

Next step, stop rewarding the failures of the CL groups a chance in another European competition.

I think to really make this work they'll have to stop having drop out teams. Have they said what happens to this CL place if the EL winners have already qualified for the CL? Take this season's EL for example.

Chelsea qualified for the CL through their league position. It couldn't be awarded to the runner-up as Benfica also qualified through their league position. As did the two other semi-finalists. All four of these teams were already CL failure drop-outs. You have to go back to the quarter-finals where us, Newcastle, Lazio and Rubin didn't achieve CL qualification through our league positions. How would you separate those four teams to find one CL qualifier?

Since the Uefa Cup merged with the Cup Winners Cup, ten of the fourteen winners have also qualified for the CL via their domestic league. Three of the last five winners were CL failure drop-outs.

 

[Syn_13]

So does this mean that an extra CL spot will be awarded to a club from that country? Because if we get 4th next year and another English club does a Chelsea on us I'll be pissed. Also, what happens if the team that win it are already in the CL next year due to their league finish? Does it mean the place gets automatically awarded to the runner-up?

 

[Kendall]

I bet we win it next year, finish 4th above Arsenal who win the CL.

 

[llamafarmer]

Still doesn't prevent the ridiculous situation of Champions League teams dropping into the competition, but it's a step in the right direction.

Absolutely, this pisses me off no end. To have Chelsea take our place in the CL was bad enough, then when they fuck it up, they get parachuted into the Europa League and end up winning it. Horseshit!