Cup half full : Time to recycle the Europa League
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Cup half full : Time to recycle the Europa League
There are three certainties in life – death , taxes and a Europa League fixture on Thursday night that nobody cares about ( but , of course , fans still attend because they ’ ll do anything for love – even that ). in order to reach the final is of such discombobulating proportions that even Alan Turing would run for the hills ( although sooner of later he would arrive in rainy Budapest for the second leg of a Europa League semi-final ).
These days it ’ s harder to get out of European football competition than it is to get in . Let ’ s face it , the Europa League is like a neverending form of corporal punishment and ( needless to say ) a licence for UEFA to print money . It is the ultimate backhanded acknowledgement of ‘ relative success ’, while also serving as a crashmatt consolation for those teams which abjectly fail in the early stages of the Champions League .
Decoding the number of games a team has to play and the passage it has to navigate
The sustainability bugle is sounding a last rites tune for the Europa League . Get rid of this tawdry , greedy and fantastically boring tournament now ! Cut the number of matches by 70 %, make it a quick-fire knock-out competition for cup-winning teams ( okay , fifth place teams as well ) and fashion the trophy from aluminum cans . And , have mercy , put it on free-to-air television on Sunday , at a time when kids can watch . It ’ s not just good for the planet – it recalibrates our equilibrium , restores Thursdays and reminds us why we care about the future of football and our planet .
90 September 2021