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Time for a new ‘Super’ League in
European Soccer
Keith R. Thompson February 16, 2008 The English
Premier League’s unveiling of a new proposal to play a 39th game
overseas was met with considerable hostility this past week. This
was because it would unleash a number of unnecessary precedents
within the Soccer world. For starters, many fear that English teams
playing a competitive match on foreign soil would do little for the
development or promotion of the game in these foreign countries.
And, it was felt that adding an extra game to the schedule would
create a disparity within the English game as some teams would end
up playing a more difficult opponent for their 39th game, whereas
others would face a much easier opponent. Evaluating league
champions or relegation teams under these scenarios could therefore
be significantly hampered, especially during close affairs. But, is
there something behind the proposal that may be interesting for the
game. Maybe the
English proposal is signaling that it just may be time to unveil a
‘new’ super league in European soccer, where the top teams from each
league actually play each other in a home-and-away league
competition so that fans across the globe can see just how the best
within England would fear against the best of Italy, and Spain, and
all the other top leagues in Europe. Yes we already have the
Champions League where teams play a home-and-away schedule within
the group stages, then a home-and-away knock-out stage. However, how
would these teams fare if they had to play an entire season against
the very top European teams, similar to their domestic league
competitions. In order to
see this come to fruition we are unveiling our own proposal that
would transform the current UEFA Champions League and Cup
competitions to mimic the domestic leagues in which the top teams
play in. We are therefore proposing revising the Champions League
from a group then knock-out stage, to a full home-and-away league
competition comprising 16 of the top teams from Europe’s top
leagues. Next, we propose retooling the UEFA Cup competition to
allow all teams that currently qualify for European play via either
the Champions League or Cup to compete in the new-look European Cup
(again similar to what occurs in domestic competitions). That way
the top teams can potentially win two European titles each year, as
well as two domestic championships for a potential quadruple instead
of the current triple that they chase. Think of the impact on the
sport if Barcelona gets to play teams such as AC Milan and
Manchester United, and the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, all in
the same year. That would be the true test of a European champion. So, just how
would a league like that operate. Well first the European 'Super'
league could comprise no more than 16 teams playing a full league
schedule in order to not overburden the current team schedules. Second,
European league games could be played in mid-week (as is currently
the case) so as not to interfere with the weekend domestic
schedules. And finally the revamped European Cup knockout
competition could be interspersed with the league games throughout
the year with teams competing in the new European league exempted
until the Fourth round of the competition. So, what
would the playing calendar look like had the new European league and
the revamped European Cup been in operation. Below is an
illustration of what such a format could look like.
Clearly it is
possible to operate a full European league and knockout competitions
within the existing 10-month format without interfering with
domestic competitions. In addition, teams that need to qualify for
those European competitions can do so within the month of July under
the current format without much tinkering of the scheduling
calendars.
UEFA can
establish details as to which 16 teams make it into the exclusive
league, and the qualifying format for the new-look European Cup but
one thing is clear fans across the globe will be fascinated at the
prospects of watching the best teams in Europe matching up against
each other on a weekly basis, maybe even more so that simply
watching top English teams play one extra game.
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