Quote from: OcTradism on Today at 02:32:30 AM

Quote from: shogun47 on February 27, 2023, 10:23:32 PM

There are for sure some great names in the competition and it is also good that the favorites aren't eliminating each other just yet.

Juventus, Manchester United, Sevilla, Arsenal, Roma, Freiburg and some other good clubs, they are making Europa League very competitive. It's a strange season when some big clubs are uniting in Europa League where they don't want to participate in.

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Freiburg is in good shape, but given that Juventus Turin has only one chance to save this season by winning this competition. They know that the Europa League is more important to them than ever. They are now 13 points behind in the Serie A, but if they can secure a spot in the Champions League for next season they can still look forward to a fresh start after this bad season.

Juventus know that if they win Europa League, they will be awarded a special ticket to join Champions League in a next season. They do know that it's impossible for them to complete Serie A in top four because they have too big gaps with top five at the moment. The deduction with 15 points is harmful for Juventus chance to finish in top four.

Winning Europa League is not easy but it is a more realistic task for them than ending in Serie A top four. They don't have to chase any club in Europa League and task is beating each opponent to the last one in final match. Juventus have enough good players and a very experienced coach in cup format, Allegri that can help them lift Europa League.

Well the two teams from England with Manchester United and Arsenal aren't that surprising. Since the Premier League is so strong and has essentially six very strong teams, there will be two teams who end up in the Europa League that could very well play the CL as well.

For the attractiveness of the competition it is good to have some big names in there as well and now that Arsenal plays an outstanding season and Manchester United has also improved so much during the season, the EL is a top notch tournament as well. It is less prestigious of course, but I am sure that we will get to see some great semi finals and an awesome final. It is good that we don't have more favorites eliminating each other too early, like was the case with Manchester and Barcelona.