Quote from: Weawant on July 06, 2024, 06:28:44 PM

Quote from: wmaurik on July 06, 2024, 12:26:01 PM

In the last two seasons, there have always been unexpected surprises in the Europa League, including what happened last season where Atalanta surprisingly managed to become champions in the Europa League and were also able to beat Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen, who were favorites to win last season. And for next season I also think there will be even more surprises that will happen to the teams that are not favorites to win the championship. Because teams that are not favorites to become champions and are not discussed much by the media will continue to improve their performance to be able to beat all the favorite teams.

Interestingly in recent years no team have consistently won the Europa several times in a row, the fact that the Europa keeps coming with surprises especially with who turns out to be the champions is one thing that keeps it really lively and interesting, the Europa is now even more competitive then some of the domestic leagues in Europe, defeating Liverpool and Leverkusen by Atlanta happens to be one of the highlights of the champions league last season.

What's insane? That Europa League is a roller coaster, right? Sevilla always taking names and kicking ass, then gone! Big dogs are in it, but not in their hearts. It's like the Europa's their side chick while they're chasing the Champions League trophy. This allow underdogs, hungry clubs like Atlanta last year, to shine.

Is this good for the game? While it's fun to see these scrappy teams play, are we degrading the competition? Europa League as consolation reward, participation trophy? Man, no idea. It puzzles. It's entertaining, but it's not top-notch football.