I have to admit that some of the ways that sides can qualify for the different UEFA competitions has me very confused. I get that if you finsh 1st or second you get to the CL, but depending on your countries league ranking you may have to go through qualifying rounds to get to group play. Also if you finish 3rd or forth in some leagues you will also be given the chance to go through the qualifying rounds to get into group play. Now if you lose in CL qualifying you drop to UEFA Cup. Then the winners of the CL and the UEFA cup then meet in the Super Cup to determine the "true" European champion. My question is this, if Seville some how pulls off a miracle and beat Barca in the Super Cup, wouldn't it be considered a travesty that Seville wasn't even given a first round qualifying birth in the CL? I understand that Seville finished 5th in the Spanish League last year and don't qualify, but shouldn't UEFA give the Cup champion at least a chance to qualify for the CL? Just a thought.
For me, the true euro champion is the CL winner. I dont understand how you get the idea that the winner of the supercup is the "true" euro champion. It wouldnt be a miracle for Sevilla to beat Barca in the first place, but if it happens, its simple: the Uefacup winners beat the CL winners. Period. No travesty...i think you are trying to making a lot out of nothing.
The super cup is just a ploy to make more money. Everyone knows its just a preseason game that means nothing
It just caught my attention that Cork fell out of the UEFA cup in the first round last year and made the qualifiers for the CL this year, but the Cup champions didn't.
In one game, anything can happen. The CL is a whole tournament with the best of the best. That's the real measure.
OK I didn't know that the Super Cup didn't mean anything. I am just trying to get my head around all the silver available in European football, so I apperciate the input. But I still question why the UEFA Cup champ doesn't get more respect with at least some draw into the CL? The UEFA Cup is a long tourney as well and from what I can gather, it is basically the best of the rest tournament.
UEFA Cup champions got a lot more of respect when only the champions played the CL and the second quelified teams all went to the UEFA Cup. Nowadays it's just the way some lesser teams can get Euro competition... it's a consolation competition, since the teams that get eliminated from the CL enter the UEFA Cup.
I see. Thanks for the clarification from everyone. This is very exciting to watch this all unfold. I just discovered the CL when the final was on ESPN last year. I plan to watch as much as I can from the begining this year.
Fantastic... maybe more viewership will inspire ESPN to buy some more rights. I lived in switzerland last year, and watching the CL games at 8:45 at night was great. It just isnt the same at 1 in the afternoon.