| In 1971 the world saw the debut of one of the most competitive tournaments in football, the Europa League. It is only eligible for European teams and although seen as a secondary competition to the Champions League, is still a highly regarded competition. It has seen Liverpool and Juventus win the trophy three times and the current champions of the UEFA League are Ukrainian Champions Shakhtar Donetsk who have been knocked out of the competition this year, so we will see a new team crowned champions. This year (2009-10) has seen a name change from the UEFA Cup to the Europa League, however the competition is still referred to under both names with the Europa League as a simple re-branding. This year will see the UEFA Cup Final played in Hamburg, Germany on May 12th. The 2011 final will be played in Ireland for the first time at Lansdowne road.
See below of a list of winners of the UEFA League over the past ten years;
Year 1999 Winners Parma They beat Marseille 3 - 0
Year 2000 Winners Galatasaray They beat Arsenal on penalties
Year 2001 Winners Livepool They beat Alaves by scoring the golden goal
Year 2002 Winners Feyenoord They beat Borussia Dortmund 3 - 2
Year 2003 Winners Porto They beat Celtic in extra time
Year 2004 Winners Valencia They beat Marseille 2 - 0
Year 2005 Winners CSKA Moscow They beat Sporting CP 3 - 1
Year 2006 Winners Sevilla They beat Middlesbrough 4 - 0
Year 2007 Winners Sevilla They beat Espanyol on penalties
Year 2008 Winners Zenit St. Petersburg They beat Rangers 2 - 0 Year 2009 Winners Shakhar Donetsk beat Werder Bremen 2 - 1
Year 2010 Winners Atletico Madrid beat Fulham 2 - 1
Year 2011 Winners FC Porto they beat Braga 1 - 0
As you can see above there is a mix of teams from all over Europe which is great for UEFA football as it shows that the competition’s outcome is usually different every single year. This years competition has seen Liverpool who have had a huge presence in the Champions League in recent years knocked out into the UEFA League. The majority of bookies are putting Liverpool and Juventus as the favourites. Presently, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has had a bad season and will be doing everything to make things up to the fans, sponsors etc, otherwise there could be serious consequences for, him like being sacked from one of the best clubs in Europe. This is something no manager wants on his C.V and he will be doing everything he can to get Liverpool to the UEFA Cup Final which may save his job.
The Champions League is seen as the best European competition and before every match its official anthem is played which has become globally recognised when matches from the tournament are played. Yohann Zveig composed a piece of music in the spring of 2009 which is now played before every UEFA League match starting in the 2009-10 season in an attempt to add further atmosphere to the tournament . His hope is that it becomes as recognised as the Champions League theme music. As well as new music they even made a new scene for when the tournament is shown live which opens with a magnificent bright sky as it begins to move through a traditional town, then by rural houses and fields. Picking up speed it moves into towns and finally into a lively city, and the entire time giant projected images of Europe’s top clubs and players play out over the European backdrops. The journey ends as we burst in to the stadium with shots of lights beamed up as a beacon of light in the night sky. This is to dramatise the competition and to captivate viewers watching eagerly at their television's. The music and the video has all come about due to the change in the name from UEFA League to the Europa League and an attempt to increase the popularity and importance of the tournament.
Added incentive to qualifying clubs to win the competition is that if you are victorious it means that you automatically get a spot in the following seasons Champions League. This is great news as this means guaranteed revenue for the club the following season and is a great boost for the clubs public prestige. Teams that win the UEFA League and are promoted to the Champions League are seen as good investments and can significantly increase the value of a club. The difference in money is huge, a team that makes the journey through the competition to winning the final of the Champions League can see revenues exceeding 23 millions pounds. However a team that wins the UEFA League will see earning exceeding 3 million pounds so you can see why managers are desperate to make their team the victors in the UEFA Cup final as the potential earnings the following season are massive.
This article was written on March 1st by Ian Ryan, who is the webmaster of footballbettingtips.co.uk. Please gamble responsibly and use this website as the advice it very relevant to the football gambling world of today. This season 2009-10 has seen an interesting year of football and the UEFA League will perhaps see either Juventus or Liverpool win their fourth title.
|
