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Firstly, well done to Chelsea for getting through to the Europa League final over Basel and Benfica for overcoming the might of Fenerbahce. But please tell me, what is the point of the likes of Basel and Fenerbahce entering?

This is one of the reasons that I didn't want to get the 3rd spot in our CL group. Not because I didn't want to continue seeing us play football in Europe but because I think it's mightily unfair. Chelsea and Benfica have CL squads, far outspending the likes of many of the Europa teams, earning far more in the process yet they parachute out of the CL and now 2 teams who lost in their groups are now in the final.

Usually the CL teams fall away coming to the latter stages because qualification for the CL the following season becomes more important. However, this season has shown that when the odds are that both teams are odds on to qualify for the CL already, they can afford to go all the way and push for the final leaving those less able teams to push on in a competition that they've played to win.

The question is, is the format of the Europa League tainted to allow the bigger teams to prosper and what could be done to overall a flawed system?

Also, I note that Chelsea got away with a fair few challenges last night so do they also get favourable treatment due to their media pull?

Of course it favours the big teams.

Its all about the moolah for uefa so why wouldn't it be?

Im_Spartacus wrote:Of course it favours the big teams.

Its all about the moolah for uefa so why wouldn't it be?

I wonder if the same can be said about the CL then?

Beefymcfc wrote:I wonder if the same can be said about the CL then?

They already do that with the seeding, although I'd argue the seeding system is fair.

The Europa is particularly murky as they know its. a poor competition so try to cash in by parachuting a couple of big teams into the latter stages to boost viewing figures. Its so fucking blatantly about money its no surprise people say the competitions a joke.

Chelsea probably get more viewers globally to watch the Europa than all the English qualifiers who actually had a right to be in the competition combined.

Well, for starters I don't think the budget of Fenerbahce is any smaller than that of Benfica. I'd argue it might be even bigger, prove me wrong.

What chance have poor AEL Limassol got against Fenerbahce then? Maritimo v Newcastle? Ironi Kiryat Shmona v Lyon? Maribor v Tottenham?

Don't get me wrong, the CL dropout system is unfortunate & I don't like what has become of the European Cups (Leagues more like...) period, but financial disparities were & would be prevalent with or without CL dropouts.

The only chance for an unbiased competition would be (1) knock out stages only (2) no seeding. Never gonna happen obviously.

Im_Spartacus wrote:

Beefymcfc wrote:I wonder if the same can be said about the CL then?

They already do that with the seeding, although I'd argue the seeding system is fair.

The Europa is particularly murky as they know its. a poor competition so try to cash in by parachuting a couple of big teams into the latter stages to boost viewing figures. Its so fucking blatantly about money its no surprise people say the competitions a joke.

Chelsea probably get more viewers globally to watch the Europa than all the English qualifiers who actually had a right to be in the competition combined.

I think you're right about the Europa and boosting the figures with the bigger teams but it doesn't make it right. In fact, I'd say it's entirely wrong. Some of the teams in the Europa have to jump through hoops just to get a crack yet you get the CL teams just parachuting in to possibly take the spoils. Totally unfair in my opinion.

As for the CL, I can understand why they set it up as they did but again, it's not a fair process; it's all designed for the established to make the most money and advertise their wares. It's not just the seeding either, it's the pattern of the games that get me. Last season we should have had 2 clear penalties against Bayern but the ref just waved them away without even a thought. This season we had the Aguero goal and penalty shout denied which left us with no wins. On the evidence presented, there's more than just the seedings we have to get through.

I Just Blue Myself wrote:Well, for starters I don't think the budget of Fenerbahce is any smaller than that of Benfica. I'd argue it might be even bigger, prove me wrong.

What chance have poor AEL Limassol got against Fenerbahce then? Maritimo v Newcastle? Ironi Kiryat Shmona v Lyon? Maribor v Tottenham?

Don't get me wrong, the CL dropout system is unfortunate & I don't like what has become of the European Cups (Leagues more like...) period, but financial disparities were & would be prevalent with or without CL dropouts.

The only chance for an unbiased competition would be (1) knock out stages only (2) no seeding. Never gonna happen obviously.

Sorry mate, missed this. Fenerbahce and Benfica are probably comparable on spend but Benfica are way and above stronger in the selling market. Over the past few seasons they've sold the likes of Ramires and Luiz to Chelsea, Coentrao and Di Maria to Real, Witzel went to Russia and Garcia to us. They got an absolute fortune for those players and a fair bit more for other fringe players. Benfica have a policy, similar to Arsenal, of bringing lots of players in, improving them and then selling them on for a huge profit. This makes them a very strong club financially but by selling their best assets leaves them vulnerable when looking to win trophies. Fenerbahce, on the other hand, have to spend just to compete, getting little for their leftovers.

And again, you're right about it being all about the money. I just wonder if the clubs that are in it from the start prefer to get an extra 50 grand for the extra sponsorship or if they'd rather have a chance of lifting the trophy?

Regarding the CL dropouts, I bet most of the European minnows who've squeezed through the group stages shit themselves with excitement at the thought of playing against them. It's like when a League Two team gets drawn against a big Premier League side in the FAC; they don't harbour genuine ambitions of winning the competition so they enjoy the exposure, the chance to test themselves against the best players and the gate-receipt payday.

The EL is a competition I enjoy, not least because you get to see great players/teams who are off the tabloid radar. The EL final will be a belter.

I'll still never understand why they did away with the CWC, mind.

Bloody hell. Just listening to TS and they've said that Chelsea will get less than 10,000 tickets. How the hell does that work?

Beefymcfc wrote:Bloody hell. Just listening to TS and they've said that Chelsea will get less than 10,000 tickets. How the hell does that work?

52,000 seater stadium reduced to 48,000 for advertising hoardings, 18,000 on open sale last Jan to general public. 9,800 for each team and 10,400 to the uefa family. Complete fuck up as usual by uefa. There will be no atmosphere at all.

Don't think I would mind if we were to win it if we got to it through dropping out of the CL.

Rag_hater wrote:Don't think I would mind if we were to win it if we got to it through dropping out of the CL.

I wouldn't either ... but I think the year to do that was last year or maybe this year ... drop out of the group stages next year as well, then Mancini's gone for sure ... and lots of finger pointing at us all year round.