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by msg3 1889 days ago
For many of the clubs in the ESL a major problem is that participation in the champions league is not guaranteed. Currently, the top four clubs from the English Premier League qualify for the following season's Champion's League. The EPL currently has six "big" clubs who agreed to participate in the ESL - some of which have not qualified for the CL in quite a few years. The ESL would have guaranteed their participation every year.

I'm glad the ESL idea has fallen through as it seemed to be poorly thought out, but I hope this doesn't stop all attempts at innovation in European football. I think there are far too many uncompetitive games (both in the CL and EPL), and I'm quite fed up of the top teams buying up all the best talent, even just to sit on the bench.
1 comments
doikor 1889 days ago
Well the new Champions League format (4 more teams) that they just agreed on basically guarantees that these big teams will get in. Especially with the "historical performance coefficient" bullshit they forced in to ensure that.

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/0268-12157d69c...

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sofixa 1889 days ago
Only two teams can get in that way, and it's skewed towards successful clubs, not "big" ones. E.g. in 2020/2021 coefficients, Sevilla are at 10th, ahead of Arsenal (11), Chelsea ( 12), Tottenham ( 14), Inter Milan (26) or AC Milan ( 53), all of which would have had guaranteed places in the Super League. Ajax are 17th, for reference.

So, all in all, not that bad to have 2 extra clubs that were successful recently. It could be Arsenal, it could be Sevilla or Ajax or Atalanta.

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lotsofpulp 1889 days ago
Wow, it makes the Super League thing sound like a distraction.
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publicola1990 1889 days ago
I'm surprised at this angle not being probed. The changes to Champions league are being pushed through without sufficient media scrutiny. Unlike ESL which was a private effort, Champions League is UEFA prerogative, and it should not be pushed through in a surreptitious, underhanded manoeuvre.
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doikor 1889 days ago
This is actually one of the things the UEFA big shots are really angry about. UEFA gave into most of the demands of these big clubs and as a reward for that they stab UEFA in the back and try to start their own league.
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