In the European League, it will actually be even more difficult for small and weak teams to get tickets to the Champions League because here only one candidate will get a ticket to the Champions League. That is, the candidate who can win, while the others will not get anything and what we see now is that Liverpool and Leverkusen are both strong teams in their respective domestic leagues and even if they can't win the European League, both teams are already has the opportunity to get a ticket to the Champions League through its own domestic League.
But interestingly, last season there were also many candidates for strong teams or favorite teams in the European League who failed to go further. For example Arsenal, Man United and Barcelona. All of them failed to go any further. And it was Sevilla who managed to win the European League title last season. So I think something similar could happen. Indeed, currently Liverpool and Leverkusen are the favorites. but I think another surprise could happen this season. And it could be that the favored team stops before the final.
This season's UEL competition is very fortunate that there is no Sevilla in this competition because if Sevilla can qualify for the UEL when they fail in the champions league, Sevilla will definitely be the favorite club even though their performance seems not to be good, but Sevilla can always succeed in getting the UEL title like last season.
If Sevilla can join this competition, Liverpool and Leverkusen will definitely be under a bit of pressure because Sevilla can always get through to the final round and with the experience of dominance from Sevilla, they can always provide great enthusiasm to continue winning trophies at the UEL.
When we think like you said last season Sevilla was not the favorite team in the UEL but could surprise the whole world if Sevilla managed to lift the UEL trophy, this season it could happen to a club that is not the favorite such as AS Roma or AC Milan which could be a surprise in final round later.