Lots of action happening today in Europe’s second most awesome club tournament. I’m sure you can find the rules that deposit teams into this tournament instead of its big brother, the Champions League, but here’s a very general overview:
Teams not reaching the Champions League threshold at the end of their respective domestic seasons are pushed into the Europa League, to be joined by Champions League castaways after the group stages. Each domestic league has a defined number of Champs and Europa League slots. There are some playoffs before the tournaments start, but ultimately you’ve got what are supposed to be the best club teams in Europe (+ Israel, Turkey, Russia – point of discussion here) playing each other for some trophies. Most importantly, more games means more television revenue, and these big sides with heavy salary demands need to get into these tournaments each year or they’ll dip quickly into the red.
Click through for today’s matchups ––––>
