Prior to Liverpool’s defeat at Atletico Madrid the other night some LFC fans were quick to quip that, clambering from turmoil, the Reds might yet win a European trophy this season whilst fierce rivals Manchester United won’t, of course. For this to happen Liverpool will now have to produce one of their better performances of 2009-10 (which, admittedly, isn’t the greatest of challenges), but even if Rafael Benitez’s side fail to rise to the occasion (again) Atletico fans may have the opportunity to taunt Real Madrid supporters instead. But here’s the rub: Liverpool and Atletico were knocked out of the Champions League; both performing abysmally in the group stage. If I was a United or Real fan would I feel more than a twinge of resentment if Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard or Atletico skipper Antonio López lifted the Europa League trophy, and not just because of the usual rivalry? Would it occur to me that my team was being ‘punished’ for performing a bit better in Europe? You bet!

Now, you might think that the obvious solution to this injustice is simply to not ‘demote’ clubs from the Champions League to the Europa League. This would only be a partial solution, however, as, for example, supporters of a club finishing fourth in the Premier League, and subsequently eliminated in the Champions League group stage, might well feel aggrieved if the club finishing fifth won the Europa League. But simply scrapping the Europa League would mean denying heroic clubs like Fulham a shot at European glory, not to mention millions of pounds in prize money and TV revenue. This phenomenon of inadvertently punishing success, and rewarding failure, has, of course, always been part of European competition, e.g. Arsenal won the League and FA Cup double in 1970-71, but lost in the quarter-finals of the following season’s European Cup, whilst North London rivals Spurs finished a distant third in the 1970-71 table, but subsequently won the inaugural UEFA Cup. But am I alone in believing such inconsistencies should have been rectified amidst the wholesale re-structuring of European competition over the past couple of decades?

So what is the answer? One possibility is to merge the Champions League and Europa League into a single competition, with no second chance for eliminated clubs. Such a merger would have the additional advantage of rewarding domestic cup winners with a place in the primary European competition, and not just the secondary one, thus boosting the prestige of, and interest in, domestic cups. And the new mega competition could be renamed simply the European Cup, a name that would revive the glory of the original European competition, and would be a more logical name than the Champions League (which isn’t exclusively contested by champions, and isn’t a league!).

But what do you think? Are you happy with the status quo, or do you think the Champions League/Europa League format needs changing? And do you have any better ideas than mine?

Username	Date	Post
kmartin	4/24/10 4:59 PM	I agree that the Champions League and Europa League should be merged into a single competition and I think your proposal above is a good idea.
Mickey	4/24/10 7:28 PM	Na, i disagree. This second tier of european football gives second tier sides like liverpool a chance of silver wear!
Mickey	4/24/10 7:34 PM	also you cant have teams finishing 7th and qualifying for the champs league, that would be a joke. The only reason england get four is due to the seeding and quality of the sides, if you dont finish in the top four you do not deserve to be mixing it with europes finest sides! i say make it less if anything, 2 or 3!
Michael2505	5/2/10 8:04 PM	i think dere shuld b 2 competitions cuzz otherwise dere would b loads of english teams and in d europa league fulham hav done brilliantly and they would never get thru in d champions league!
Admin Marcus	5/4/10 4:33 PM	[messages removed for language and also as they were not relevant to this thread. if this continues, Yellow Cards will be handed out, suspending your ability to post to forums. sadiqu: consider this your final warning and naimul: pls do not rise to the bait. if it gets worse, Red Cards will be handed out, suspending or even banning you from the game entirely. banter is good, but please keep it clean and on-topic - cheers ]
harry123	5/8/10 4:45 PM	HAVE A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND A EUROPA LEAGUE OTHERWISE TEAMS LIKE ASTON VILLA AND BIRMINGHAM WONT GET TO PLAY AND THEY HAVE DONE FAIRLY WELL THIS SEASON!
christy7	5/9/10 8:48 AM	yes exactly I think there should be more teams in like 8th and 9th in the europa league
Admin Marcus	5/10/10 4:29 PM	[roni4ever: pls be nice to the moderators - they're doing this out of the kindness of their own hearts and they're top people . all posts must be KEPT ON TOPIC, else they will be removed. managers cannot delete their own message, so pls have a quick think before posting. cheers and enjoy managing your clubs ]
joe297	5/10/10 6:21 PM	can i be a moderaor
joe297	5/10/10 6:40 PM	da european union should only be on footy11(a few worlds)
Admin Marcus	5/11/10 3:19 PM	[joe297: as we expand, we will be looking for more moderators, although not just yet. also, pls post in the correct forums] [last message removed for abuse and bad language - sadiqu receives a RED CARD and is now banned from Footy11. any further abuse will be treated in the same fashion]
roni4ever	5/11/10 6:44 PM	admin u no wot i meyn and i rili meyn it dat i agri wiv u by roni4ever ps sori
Ben101	5/11/10 8:32 PM	i think there should be three leagues EUROPA, CHAMPIONS and one for the people who are 5th 6th 7th 8th and 9th from all the leagues in europe
Ben101	5/11/10 8:34 PM	what do you think guys
Admin Marcus	5/14/10 2:56 AM	[messages removed that were OFF TOPIC. gentlemen, please keep posts relevant to the title of this thread. if you wish to discuss something else, feel free to start a new thread instead. further off-topic posts may result in a Yellow Card and then suspension of posting rights. cheers ]
michael18	5/25/10 8:11 PM	I think we should have something new on footy11 - pics are cool, but maybe like europa, champions, maybe we should have pics for that as well logos.
roni4ever	5/26/10 7:05 PM	ye and we shud also hav a proper wold cup for de tims in sauf africa
Admin Marcus	5/26/10 7:34 PM	no plans from us for a recreation of the 2010 World Cup, although we do have plenty of new things coming soon!
Admin Marcus	5/29/10 10:29 PM	[for consistently posting to the wrong thread, the following managers have a Yellow Card which will suspend their posting priviledges for 3-days: roni4ever, ronstar, harry123]
SteveBrooke	5/30/10 4:08 PM	Thank god for that, I can let my interpreter have a break!!
SteveBrooke	6/2/10 10:35 PM	I think there is one very important point that you miss in your argument Gareth. It our desire for an exciting end to the season!! Here's what I mean: - If there was one league for all, it would limit the chance of those lesser teams winning a cup and bringing in vital European money to their coffers. If they played against the top one or two in one big league you would no doubt suggest seeding and therefore it would be like the FA cup. Yes shocks happen, but not often and the cream of Europe would generally rise to the top and dominate the competition. Many of the so-called fringe teams (Fulham etc) would tend to go out in the very early stages thus depriving them of the money they could earn in the Europa.
SteveBrooke	6/2/10 10:35 PM	Why does it matter - because the money that Fulham earned in their good run will ensure that they have an opportunity to invest in their future and possibly battle to make the "top 4" a "Top 5" and so on. It strengthens in depth the premier league but is by no means the only way but it helps in making the run in more exciting because the Fulham's can beat the Man U's and Arsenal's etc. but can also establish themselves in the top 7. Spurs and Aston Villa are prime examples of teams who have done alright out of the Europa. Would they have gone as far in an all in one competition? I do however disagree with the parachuting of losers from the Champions League into the Europa.
roni4ever	6/3/10 11:31 AM	i dont agri wiv u acsept from de muni
naimul	6/7/10 6:36 PM	who is 'muni'.oh yeah i beat manutd with birmingham city.gr8
naimul	6/7/10 6:40 PM	Prior to Liverpool’s defeat at Atletico Madrid the other night some LFC fans were quick to quip that, clambering from turmoil, the Reds might yet win a European trophy this season whilst fierce rivals Manchester United won’t, of course. For this to happen Liverpool will now have to produce one of their better performances of 2009-10.
naimul	6/7/10 6:42 PM	but the devils (manutd)will win the champions and premier league cups and might win the carling cup
Admin Marcus	6/9/10 3:34 PM	[pls keep comments ON TOPIC and pls contact us directly if you want to become a moderator - cheers ]
Admin Marcus	6/14/10 7:06 PM	[the last couple of posts have been removed - pls keep 'on topic' - cheers]
halloran	6/16/10 2:25 PM	leeds united used to be one of best teams in europe and england and now they only just got up into championship
dano31	6/16/10 5:29 PM	yeah 10 years ago