Italy loses Champions League place

[DOC]

very true ruud

[Hawkseys Double]

a champion of a 'lower league' should have a greater right to European competition than 6th place in the EPL...

I reakon Watford would spank some of these lower league champions.

[Nice One Cyril]

How so? If Russian teams start winning in Europe, they go up the list and are eligible for more spots. The teams from the countries that do well are rewarded. The point of including both the UCL and Europa is to reward leagues that have strength in depth as opposed to leagues that have two or three big teams and then shiraz all (ie Portugal, Scotland)

Except that it's limited by UEFA politics to four spots per country. It's meant to be the premier competition in Europe, yet teams like Tel Aviv (is that even IN Europe?), Zilina, Cluj and Bursaspor are consistently getting in ahead of teams like Man City, Liverpool or Spurs. If their leagues are wank then don't give them any CL spots until they at least consistently reach the last 8 of the Europa.

a champion of a 'lower league' should have a greater right to European competition than 6th place in the EPL...

Morally, I can't disagree with you, but they're nowhere near the required standard. I'd rather see as close as possible to the best 32 clubs in Europe.

[Nice One Cyril]

very true ruud

You'd expect that sort of response from a Jock. One of the weakest leagues in Europe although I suspect Celtic would qualify as of right. Just

[DOC]

very true ruud

You'd expect that sort of response from a Jock. One of the weakest leagues in Europe although I suspect Celtic would qualify as of right. Just

the way it should be is like it was, all the winners go into a hat, thats it, no seedings, no 4th spot teams in playoffs, so i would not complain if celtic missed out if they finished second

[Nice One Cyril]

very true ruud

You'd expect that sort of response from a Jock. One of the weakest leagues in Europe although I suspect Celtic would qualify as of right. Just

the way it should be is like it was, all the winners go into a hat, thats it, no seedings, no 4th spot teams in playoffs, so i would not complain if celtic missed out if they finished second

Yeah, it's a bit of a halfway house at the moment. UEFA can't decide if they want the champions or the best 32 teams in it, so we've got a fudge somewhere in between. Money talks.

[DOC]

yep, they need the top 4 teams from the big leagues for the tv money and such, but they have to keep the minnow champions in as its the champions league, so they have made the qualification for these teams harder and made it easier for the bigger teams

[ruud]

Except that it's limited by UEFA politics to four spots per country. It's meant to be the premier competition in Europe, yet teams like Tel Aviv (is that even IN Europe?), Zilina, Cluj and Bursaspor are consistently getting in ahead of teams like Man City, Liverpool or Spurs. If their leagues are wank then don't give them any CL spots until they at least consistently reach the last 8 of the Europa.

a champion of a 'lower league' should have a greater right to European competition than 6th place in the EPL...

Morally, I can't disagree with you, but they're nowhere near the required standard. I'd rather see as close as possible to the best 32 clubs in Europe.

if you give more european places to English Clubs then they will all increase their revenue (you get atleast 10-15 million euro for taking part in the CL) even further, creating an even larger rift between the small leagues and the big leagues

[God is an Englishman]

4 teams is 3 too many as it is.

[God is an Englishman]

It should be one team only from each league and rename it back to the European Cup.

a slight change

[The Zarate Kid]

It should be one team only from each league.

Plus the current holders.

[Facts and Stats]

Indeed.