It must be hard trying to live in the shadow of a more successful sibling. While your life is the same banal 9 to 5 that most people experience, other members of your family are universally known and respected, and certainly not lacking in the bank account stakes. To some people, you may not even have your own identity - you're thought of as "Barack's brother/sister" [delete where appropriate]. This is the unfortunate scenario in which the UEFA Europa League finds itself.
The tournament receives a lot of bad press in the English-speaking media. It has been criticised for being too unwieldy and substandard. There is a general disdain for the competition among Premier League clubs, a point of view that has even seeped through to the fans, who normally would readily embrace a run in Europe and the chance of winning a trophy. Four teams from England featured in this season's Europa League group stage. Only one of those got through to the knockout rounds. That was Stoke's reward for taking the competition seriously. Tony Pulis acknowledged that the continental experience was a brand new one for the club's fans and, despite not always fielding his strongest side, clearly saw it as a worthwhile venture. Birmingham couldn't make it through but they put in every effort to survive in the tournament and just didn't have the quality to oust Club Brugge and last season's runners-up Braga.
The other English sides don't have any such excuses. Fulham ought to have qualified and Martin Jol's team selections were noticeably different from those he normally fields in the Premier League, although they were going through until the concession of an injury-time equaliser against OB Odense. Tottenham, on the other hand, were an insult to the competition, full stop. Right from the outset it was clear that Harry Redknapp regarded the Europa League as a chore and not an opportunity. A full-strength Spurs would be genuine contenders for the trophy and the fans have not had much silverware to cherish (two League Cups in the last 20 years), but instead the man touted as the next England manager plunged the depths of his squad to fulfil Europa League duties. There is nothing inherently wrong with using your squad, and I'm all for giving youngsters first-team experience, but Redknapp has not disguised his hatred for the tournament. He said after the 4-0 win over Shamrock Rovers last week that he was "very disappointed" to be out of Europe, but you got the sense that he didn't mean it from the bottom of his heart. If anything, he seemed relieved that he would no longer be bound by the Thursday and Sunday schedule. And as for only naming four substitutes when he was entitled to have seven...into the bold corner, Harry.
The 2012 Europa League has been given an unexpected boost after some surprise eliminations from the Champions League. Man Utd, Man City, Ajax, Valencia and holders FC Porto have all been parachuted into the last 32 of the Europa League, although at least two of those big names will soon be lost after the draw gave us Ajax v Man Utd and Porto v Man City. The bookies were quick to install the two Manchester sides as favourites for the competition after their Champions League exits, although I would shy away from backing either of them to go on and win it. It is no secret that neither Roberto Mancini nor Alex Ferguson likes being in the Europa League and I can envisage them taking Redknapp's lead and completely revamping their line-ups. Mind you, considering the resources at Mancini's disposal, you couldn't really call it a "weakened" City team.
England may have fallen out of love with the UEFA Europa League, but the tournament is still valued elsewhere on the continent. Porto were arguably the best side in last year's edition, but with other contenders such as Man City and Liverpool not going all out to win it, the Portuguese champions' desire left them as clear favourites and they were fully deserving of their success in the final in Dublin. It's worth noting as well that the Porto class of 2010-11 would have given the Champions League a right go, so it's not as if this was a second-rate side who merely picked up Europe's consolation prize.
And try telling the fans of some teams that the Europa League doesn't matter. In getting to this season's group stage, Shamrock Rovers and AEK Larnaca created history and gave their supporters memories to cherish for a lifetime. Both have now fallen by the wayside, but they deserve full marks for holding the tournament in high regard. They have paved the way for teams of such stature from Europe's lesser-renowned leagues to write their own continental adventure.
As a Liverpool fan I have seen my club compete in this tournament in the last couple of years and let me assure you that I was very disappointed when the Reds lost out to Atletico Madrid in the 2010 semi-finals and Braga last season. Yes, some trophies carry more prestige than others, but if there's a cup to be won and a genuine chance of winning it, why not go all out for the prize? Europa League and domestic success are not mutually exclusive. Twice in recent years Porto have won this competition as well as their domestic league, with Valencia also managing the feat. Sevilla, meanwhile, won the UEFA Cup in 2007, the year that they qualified for the Champions League for the first time and came within one game of winning La Liga.
The Europa League is a notoriously difficult competition to forecast. The gulf in class between the competing sides tends to be closer than in the Champions League, where even in the round of 16 you only have four teams who can realistically claim to be contenders for the trophy. I honestly can't say which team will come out on top in the Europa League final in Bucharest on 9 May, but I strongly believe that any side who makes a real go at winning it stands a chance of doing so, regardless of whether that's Manchester City or Metalist Kharkiv. Despite what some in the English press, and Harry Redknapp, might say, the UEFA Europa League deserves to be seen as a valuable competition in its own right and not merely the ugly sister of the Champions League.
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