The many big teams that fell from the champions league actually made competition in the european league now quite fierce, how could it not be, this season for the second time we will see barcelona return to play in the european league, as well as juventus which is one of the big clubs specialist champions league will compete in the second caste of the European league this season, the existence of these big teams has certainly made the European league this season no less fierce than the champions league because it is possible for us to see bigmatch matches later.
Yes, you are right. But teams like Barcelona, Ajax, Roma, Juventus and Manchester United and several other good teams still have to fight to get past the playoff phase so it is not certain that they will be able to reach the last 16. It's possible Barcelona, Juventus, Roma and Ajax qualify at this stage for the last 16 and if that's the case then the competition in the last 16 of the Europa League this season is really tough.
But now all the teams may not have the focus on this match because the World Cup is very close. I will be looking forward to some big matches in the Europa League this season because I think the competition for the title will definitely be very good compared to last season.
Some of the big teams that collapsed in the Champions League, because they lack preparation for the competition. in the end, they had to drop down to the Europa League. Barcelona, Ajax, Juventus, Rome, Manchester United, must fight their way through the playoffs to win a ticket to the round of 16 later. clearly, the competition towards the round of 16 will be even more exciting because it brings together big teams. One of them is the Manchester United vs Barcelona match, which will ensure that the two teams will appear all out to fight for a ticket to the last 16 of the Europa League.
so in the last 16 of the Europa League, it looks like it will be even more competitive if the teams that failed in the Champions League manage to qualify for the last 16 of the Europa League. with the league paused due to the world cup, I think it will be an advantage for the teams to prepare everything to face the playoffs later after the world cup.
From all these big teams mentioned here it is clear who the favorite is and based on their performance I think it is Barcelona.Barcelona was in a difficult group,much more difficult than that of Juventus and thus they are here because of that while Juventus is here because of their own mischief that they were not able to win against Benfica and Maccabi Haifa which is truly a nightmare for a team like Juventus.
Ajax was in a very strong group also but their quality lacks that of Barcelona and thus for me they are not favorites to win Europa League this year.However I don't exclude English teams like Manchester United and Arsenal as also clear favorites to win the Europa League.