I have read a lot of derision toward the Europa League, by many supporters of Manchester United, and Manchester City, all over the internet. It is all over Twitter. It is all over commentboards. It is anywhere that any half-wit with an opinion can vomit from his fingers, hoping someone else will agree with him.
I may be in a minority here, but I am growing bored with the Champions League. There are only so many permutations of the same 16 teams that can be seen, before eye-gouging becomes a legitimate form of escape. England’s domination of the last 6 years of Champions League has been interesting to see. Especially since each of the Big Four teams has played in a final during this period. However, with only two of those four teams bringing home the European Cup, it makes you wonder just how far England has come, in terms of the competition. Since the establishment of the Group Stage, the number of teams that could enter, from any nation via their league coefficient, has created a certain level of stagnation in the competition. In England, you have the same three to four teams battling it out for the Premier League trophy, for the most part. City, Liverpool, Spurs, or any other team on the fringe, are virtually interchangeable at this point. Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United have established nearly a chokehold on their domination of maintaining their standing reservation in Champions League. In Portugal, it is assumed that FC Porto, Sporting Lisbon, or Benfica will make at least the Group Stage. In Italy, AC Milan and Inter are usually amongst the teams that make at least the Group Stage. Real Madrid and Barcelona, effectively round out the list of teams that are almost definites.
As I said in my previous article about Champions League, I speculated that the establishment of the Group Stage, has effectively destroyed the chances for a team with smaller resources to be able to make a valiant Cup run in Europe. This season just had to prove me wrong though. APOEL and FC Basel defied odds that were supposed to be stacked against them, to make it to the final Knockout Phase of the Champions League. While I tip my hat to them, I hope they understand that their days in Europe, this season, are surely numbered. With Chelsea, Barcelona, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Inter, Bayern Munich, and AC Milan all still alive, the concept of the European football food-chain will once again be on display for the world to see.
What does this have to do with the Europa League? Quite a bit. Outside of Sevilla’s two years of domination in the UEFA Cup, no one team has stood out against the rest. Sure, Spain has had more successful teams in terms of appearances in the finals, of late. However, in that time, four different teams played in those finals, and three of them won. Only Espanyol losing to Sevilla is the anomaly here. But looking back at the history of the UEFA Cup and Europa League, the anomalies are sort of what defines the charm of this “lesser” European trophy. To highlight this point, I am going to look at the UEFA Cup/Europa League Final match-ups since 2005.
In 2011, there was the all Portugal Final between FC Porto and Braga. Braga were parachuted down into the Europa League, following their third place finish in the Champions League Group Stage. Meanwhile, Porto fought their way through the Europa League Group Stage, to earn their place in the Knockout Phase. It was the first all Portuguese major European final. Meanwhile, in the Champions League, you had Man United vs. Barcelona II: Electric Bugaloo. Duly, Barcelona continued to make United look like a school for the blind.
In 2010, Atletico Madrid beat Fulham. Fulham were a team who got into Europe by the UEFA Fair Play draw. And they got to the Final, when no one expected them to do anything more than continue their erratic run of results in England. Atletico, meanwhile, are the bastard stepchildren of Madrid football. They are a sensational team, in their own right, but they are merely also-rans next to Real. They got into the Europa League Knockout Phase, via the Champions League parachute device. In the Champions League final, you had Inter beating Bayern Munich. The one interesting point about these two finals, to me at least, is that it is the first time that I can think of where all four major football nations had representation in the two major European finals.
In 2009, Shakthar beat Bremen. That was the year that both of the semi-finals were derby matches. Shakthar faced Dynamo Kyiv, while Bremen faced Hamburg. To me, the intrigue in the match-up came more for the previously mentioned derbies, than the final itself. Though, the fact that Shakthar beat Bremen in extra time, without going to penalties, did make for an interesting climax to that season’s UEFA Cup. Both qualified for the UEFA Cup via the parachute rule. Over in Champions League, you had the first round of Manchester United limping away from a hiding against Barcelona.
In 2008, Zenit beat Rangers. Zenit were a fantastic team, full of speed and guile, the likes of which I had never really seen before. And this was at the point where UEFA Cup matches to watch, were nearly as impossible as getting blood from a stone. Rangers, well, they were Rangers. They were playing their style of anti-football that made me wish that they were sponsored by Sominex. Rangers got into the UEFA Cup via ye olde European parachute, while Zenit fought through the honest way. Over in Champions League, Manchester United beat Chelsea, in the rain in Moscow in penalties, for European football’s top prize.
In 2007, Sevilla beat Espanyol. This was the first time in quite a number of years, that a European trophy was actually defended by the winning team from the previous season. The team previously to do that feat was AC Milan in 89-90, in the European Cup. They were also the first team since Real Madrid, in 85-86, to win the UEFA Cup in successive seasons. Also, it should be mentioned, Espanyol are the Atletico Madrid of Catalan region of Spain. Always playing second fiddle to Barcelona. Both teams started in the UEFA Cup Group Stage, and Sevilla ultimately won the prize in penalties. In Champions League, you had a rematch of the 2005 Champions League Final between Liverpool and AC Milan. AC Milan won via Pippo Inzaghi goals, one of which was a uncalled handball.
In 2006, Sevilla beat Middlesbrough. Yes, that Middlesbrough. They qualified through the winning of the League Cup. While Sevilla, fought their way through. In Champions League, Barcelona beat Arsenal, mostly because Jens Lehmann lost the plot.
In 2005, CSKA Moscow beat Sporting Lisbon. CSKA got into the UEFA Cup via that damned parachute. While Sporting, being the lions they are, fought their way through. In Champions League, Liverpool beat AC Milan, via Dietmar Hamann’s one man show on defense, that turned the tide for the Merseysiders.
Just looking at those years, there is enough variance in the nations represented in these selected finals to make a case for the diversity of the Europa League to be one of its strong points. And now that two big English fish are in the pond, it should make for even more interesting times. They will now have to prove their meddle in all parts of Europe, not just Barcelona. Or Marseille. Nor Paris. Or London. Or Rome. Or Milan. Or any traditional European football hotbed. They will have to contend with teams who would love nothing more than to say that they got The Great Manchester United’s scalp in the Europa League. Imagine how big that could be.
Though the competition may seem lesser, the style of football is more tactically aggressive, at least from what I have seen, involving teams not called Rangers. Both United and City will need to find a way to call upon their resources to not get outplayed. Especially United, who are currently dealing with rectifying their own European shortcomings.
I cannot recall which blog it was that I read this on, but the idea did stick with me. It was that for the younger players at Manchester United, and for City as a whole, the Europa League is a great place for them to gain European experience. Because of the diversity of opposition, it will give those players a chance to compete against various styles of football, which can only help them in the long run. Especially as regaining a spot in the Champions League is one of the highest priorities for both of the Manchester clubs. Maybe City could parlay a Europa League victory into a Champions League victory. Or maybe a Europa League victory could be the springboard for United to finally shake themselves free from Barcelona’s hoodoo. Or, both teams could realistically get themselves eliminated from the competition. Mostly by fielding weaker squads, and squandering the potential opportunities for progess that could be built from this experience.
I guess we will have to wait and see how seriously both Manchester clubs take the Europa League draw, and see how serious they are about possibly meeting in the final in Bucharest in May. And see how either club lays its priorities between the League campaign and the Europa campaign. That, to me, will be the truly telling sign. If both go into both competitions looking to out-play and out-wit the other. I cannot see City getting both the FA Cup and the League Cup this season. Maybe one. But again, this comes back to how they choose to set their priorities. So, we will see how this all plays out, and see just how mentally fortuitous the big fish are, in the “small pond”.
