The latest edition of ‘Let’s Be Honest’ from Spurs fan and host of the EPL Roundtable, Kevin DeVries casts a critical eye over the Europa League.
The Europa League is terrible.
Having supported Tottenham through it for the last three seasons, I am all too familiar with the ins and outs of the lesser of the European competitions. The verdict? It’s pointless. Before we go any further, please don’t assume that I’m just bitter about Spurs’ underperformance in the Europa League (FC Basel? Really?!). But do what you want.
In it’s current format the Europa League is little more than a marketing ploy. It allows UEFA to throw their logo on even more matches, gives clubs the opportunity to sell ‘competition kits’, and offers a place for big name clubs that falter in their Champions League campaigns.
While none of this is intrinsically problematic calling the Europa League an elite competition is laughable. If you want clubs and supporters to take the competition seriously some intense modifications need to be made.
- Increase the prize money. As it stands if you won every single match in the Europa League, including the title, your winnings (€9.9 million) would be worth just €300,000 more than winning one match in the Champions League group stage (€9.6 million).
- Stop the introduction of third place Champions League teams midway through the competition. Despite the ratings boost, this is a short term solution that diminishes the value of the first three months of the competition and all the teams involved to that point.
- Reward the Europa League champions with a Champions League spot. What’s that? They’ve already agreed to do this next season?! Good on ya UEFA!
In an ideal world where all of these issues have been resolved, the Europa League will finally be worth playing in right? It depends on the prize money increase, but probably not. Prepare yourselves for …
FACT TIME!
Over the past two seasons in Premier League fixtures immediately preceded by Europa League fixtures:
- Tottenham dropped points in 7 matches (6L, 1D)
- Swansea dropped points in 9 matches (5L, 4D)
- Newcastle dropped points in 8 matches (7L, 1D)
- Liverpool dropped points in 8 matches (L3, D5)
These points turned out to be crucial in the table as on average these clubs finished their seasons:
- Before Europa League: 7.5
- During Europa League: 10.5
- After Europa League: 5
Okay I admit I may be a little bitter, but the fact of the matter is that Europa League football is too much to handle for Premier League clubs. Financially it makes far more sense to focus on the league where each position in the table is worth roughly €1 million.
In order to match the value of finishing five or more spots higher in the league (€5.3 million) you’d need to advance past the Europa League semi-finals (€4.9 million).
While I applaud UEFA’s effort to offer another way into the Champions League, the odds are too steep. While I can’t deny that I’ve enjoyed some Europa League moments over the last three years, I really hope Tottenham don’t have to play in it again. We can’t afford it.
