UEFA is supposedly set to launch third European competition beginning in 2021-22. Sounds like its almost a done deal. This could mean 96 clubs will be engaged in European group-stage action in the Autumn, with the EL group stage getting reduced to 32 teams and the new competition also featuring a 32-team group stage. From the sound of it, the competition would be a place for domestic league champions that did not make it to the CL group-stage. Currently there are 43 UEFA leagues whose champion is not guaranteed a spot in the CL group-stage, and only 4 of them qualify to the group-stage where they join the champions of the top 11 ranked UEFA leagues, the CL winner and 16 trophy-less wonders. 4 out of 43 for a competition called the "Champions League"! https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/sep/11/uefa-third-european-competition-2021
I wonder if third place clubs in the CL will still go to the EL. It works for the EL to have a Round of 32 with half of the EL Group Stage clubs and 8 from the CL. I hope the EL doesn't have 8 groups of 4 that only eliminate 1 club for the sake of having the right amount of clubs for the knockout rounds. Now half the clubs from the CL are seeded in the Round of 32 and half are unseeded. With 8 EL groups, I propose having 4 CL clubs and 4 EL group winners with a bye to the Round of 16, the other 4 CL clubs and 4 EL group winners seeded in the Round of 24, and the 8 EL second place clubs unseeded in the Round of 24. I don't want a continuous national team tournament to have teams get a bye in the first knockout round, but for midweek games in between domestic games I don't see a problem with having clubs get byes.
What's missing here is who takes part in it? I thought at first it was just for champions that didn't qualify for the CL group stage. I quite liked that idea, but now sounds like it will be for clubs that don't progress through the EL qualifying & group stages(?) Looks like you can in fact make that double-drop. Lose in CL qualifying -> Finish 3rd in EL group stage -> Enter EL2
Here is the proposed acces list: https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefaorg/General/02/58/61/42/2586142_DOWNLOAD.pdf And there are several ways to play all three competitions in one season. Theres even the possibility to play in all three qualifiers and not play a group stage: 1) Lose in CL Q2 > drop to EL Q3 2) Lose in EL Q3 > drop to EL2 PO 3) Lose in EL2 PO > Bye Bye!! If the calendar remains the same, the draws for the qualifying rounds are going to be a mess!
I guess who might be asking for it is people living in countries whose league aren't among the top 8 of Europe. Last season 14 of the round of 16 teams in the EL played in one of the top 8 leagues. The weakest 45 leagues contributed a grand total of 2 teams in the CL and another 2 in the EL round of 16s. Another group of people that might be asking for it is those who want to see the Europa League trimmed down. The way the teams are distributed under this proposal it seems like the KO stages of EL2 will consist of alot of teams that play in the 8th-20th ranked leagues in UEFA. EL2 will contain only 1 team from each of the top 5 ranked leagues.
Personally I think there should be some implementation to stop teams saving their energy and mojo for a European competition without giving a damn about their league position. Therefore in my opinion the only teams who should be allowed to participate in Europe's top competition are those who have managed to to finish in the top 2 places of their domestic league. Cup winners may also get a place. This way you would not see any one of Europe's top clubs playing their 2nd fiddle team in the weekend and lose at home to some mid table side because they have a CL game in midweek and they don't want to lose that hefty prize money!
I think that's true for clubs involved in the Champions League. But I think it's the complete opposite for teams involved in the Europa League, where teams will field stronger lineups for weekend league fixtures in the hopes of gaining a spot in the more lucrative Champions League while fielding weaker teams for the not-so-glamorous Europa League. At least until the semi-finals, possibly even the quarterfinals now that the Europa winner gains automatic entry into the Champions. How teams treat this new tournament will probably depend on which country each club is from. (i.e. teams from higher profile leagues won't care about it while teams from lower profile leagues may value it highly.
I totally get your point and understand where you're coming from. But I'm afraid I've seen teams in the Europa league sacrificing their league campaign for similar reasons too. A prime example is my own beloved Manchester United in 2017 under Jose Mourinho. In that season we literally abandoned our league ambitions from around March/April and focused on Europa league for a place in next year's CL. The strategy did work and we did manage to win the EL that season but the price we paid was ending up in 6th place in the league which was our 2nd worst league position in the premier league history. For me that's unacceptable for any football club anywhere in Europe to disrespect their own domestic league for simple financial advantages.
While the structure to UEFA's landmark competition the Champions League remains untouched, Europa League winners will now progress automatically to the last 16 of the competition.
What? Europa League winner will bypass the group stage and go straight to the Round of 16? Meanwhile, the Champions League defending champion still has to go through group stage?
https://kassiesa.net/uefafiles/2021-24-uefa-access-list.pdf says it's for 2021-2024 and has both defending champions in the Group Stage.