Third European Cup plans (2021- )

[Funkmaster]

So after which season will the ranking be "reformatted" in a way that the countries under 28th will go to the Conference (except for the champions)?

All clubs who are not champion or inside top15-leagues go to Europa Conference League.

In current Europa League there are 3 (three) teams that are not champion from a country outside of top-15 leagues (Malmo, Partizan Celtic)
Those will move to the conference league

Also will move to the conference league Wolves, Espanyol, Frankfurt, Braga, Guimareas, Gent, Trabzonspor, AZ

Plus 5 more (non)champions that didn't make it to the CL will move let's say Slovan Bratislava, Dudelange, Ludogorets, Astana, Ferencvaros.

so the reduction 48->32 is at teh cost of 8 teams out of top 15 and 8 teams from below top 15.

Interesting and good analysis. If you look at the Excel-sheet dnina10 created for the 2021-system using this season‘s EC-starters, you see that:

- 3 of 32 clubs in CL are outside top15-leagues (Celtic, Copenhagen, Dinamo Zagreb)
- 6 of 32 clubs in EL1 are outside top15-leagues (Ludogorets, Astana, BATE, APOEL, Karabach, Maribor)
- 20 of 32 clubs in EL2 are outside top15-leagues. Clubs from top15 leagues are Braga, Gent, Frankfurt, Getafe, Standard, Wolverhampton, Spartak Moskau, Torino, Oleksandriya, AEK Athen, WAC, Lugano

Keep in mind that this Excel-sheet is based on the assumption that all seeded clubs in qualification win their ties. So it‘s a bit theoretical, but reality isn‘t far off.

So while countries outside top15 should get only 9 out of 64 spots for CL or EL1 (14%), they do take up the majority of EL2. In EL1-PO champions and non-champions are mixed, so it‘s clear for me UEFA want to keep “weak“ champions like Dudelange, Ferencvaros or Cluj and “unworthy“ cupwinners like WAC, Lugano and Oleksandriya away from EL1, which is a very good thing imo.

[Lorric]

Little correction, I expect you meant Rangers, not Celtic, as one of the three.

[Richie]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just reinstate the Cup Winners Cup, with a CL place for the winner?

[Funkmaster]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just reinstate the Cup Winners Cup, with a CL place for the winner?

Because UEFA, the clubs and everybody else want more EC-games, not less.

[Ricardo]

So after which season will the ranking be "reformatted" in a way that the countries under 28th will go to the Conference (except for the champions)?

All clubs who are not champion or inside top15-leagues go to Europa Conference League.

In current Europa League there are 3 (three) teams that are not champion from a country outside of top-15 leagues (Malmo, Partizan Celtic)
Those will move to the conference league

Also will move to the conference league Wolves, Espanyol, Frankfurt, Braga, Guimareas, Gent, Trabzonspor, AZ

Plus 5 more (non)champions that didn't make it to the CL will move let's say Slovan Bratislava, Dudelange, Ludogorets, Astana, Ferencvaros.

so the reduction 48->32 is at teh cost of 8 teams out of top 15 and 8 teams from below top 15.

I also did a quick check for 2018/2019.
In there there were 5 non champions from outside top-15 that played EL and 6 top-10 non champions that currently qualified, but would go to Conference League in '21. That would bring 5 worst Champions to also move to Conference league.

Generic speaking it is about 6 chanpions from countries 16-> that will qualify to the new EL.
Looking at it it seems that
about 16 teams will qualify from the top-9
about 10 teams from 10-15
and 6 teams from 16->

GS will not be as easy to predict/pass as current.



A pity teams like Atalanta still would play CL

[wannabeontop]

Pff.

[Forza AZ]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just reinstate the Cup Winners Cup, with a CL place for the winner?

Such a Cup would not get many interesting teams in it I think. Cup winners are often already qualified for the CL, so you get lower ranked teams. And only 1 of each country, so a group stage would not be very interesting with teams from 32 different countries and a big difference in level of the teams.

[Ricardo]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just reinstate the Cup Winners Cup, with a CL place for the winner?

Such a Cup would not get many interesting teams in it I think. Cup winners are often already qualified for the CL, so you get lower ranked teams. And only 1 of each country, so a group stage would not be very interesting with teams from 32 different countries and a big difference in level of the teams.

hmm, maybe more interesting as a group stage with teams from just 15/16 countries, where even half of the teams come from just 4 countries......

[Forza AZ]

hmm, maybe more interesting as a group stage with teams from just 15/16 countries, where even half of the teams come from just 4 countries......

Not for UEFA. Not enough money involved.

[dnina10]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just reinstate the Cup Winners Cup, with a CL place for the winner?

This is still what I would prefer. That and Champions League dropouts can play in this tournament as well . It can still have a group stage of 32, having the same format as the Champions League. If UEFA wants to please the 'bigger' nations, make their fifth place (fourth place in France and Russia) play in this tournament as well.

Throwing up some numbers here, the tournament group stage would potentially look like this:
- 12 clubs from the top 6 (2 from each country including the cup winners)
- 8-10 droupouts from the Champions League
- Rest are cup winners from other associations (10-12 clubs)

I know I can't speak for everyone here, but I know I could live with that. Have one or two qualifying rounds involving the cup winners of the other associations and maybe the fourth and fifth place clubs I mentioned. I would probably say the cup winners of the top 6 associations automatically qualify for the group stage while everyone else plays in qualifying (26 spots). I think that sounds decent

[angel_87]

All clubs who are not champion or inside top15-leagues go to Europa Conference League.

In current Europa League there are 3 (three) teams that are not champion from a country outside of top-15 leagues (Malmo, Partizan Celtic)
Those will move to the conference league

Also will move to the conference league Wolves, Espanyol, Frankfurt, Braga, Guimareas, Gent, Trabzonspor, AZ

Plus 5 more (non)champions that didn't make it to the CL will move let's say Slovan Bratislava, Dudelange, Ludogorets, Astana, Ferencvaros.

so the reduction 48->32 is at teh cost of 8 teams out of top 15 and 8 teams from below top 15.

I also did a quick check for 2018/2019.
In there there were 5 non champions from outside top-15 that played EL and 6 top-10 non champions that currently qualified, but would go to Conference League in '21. That would bring 5 worst Champions to also move to Conference league.

Generic speaking it is about 6 chanpions from countries 16-> that will qualify to the new EL.
Looking at it it seems that
about 16 teams will qualify from the top-9
about 10 teams from 10-15
and 6 teams from 16->

GS will not be as easy to predict/pass as current.



A pity teams like Atalanta still would play CL

Atalanta earned the UCL Qualification in the field, finishing 3rd after a 38-game run!!

[dnina10]

In current Europa League there are 3 (three) teams that are not champion from a country outside of top-15 leagues (Malmo, Partizan Celtic)
Those will move to the conference league

Also will move to the conference league Wolves, Espanyol, Frankfurt, Braga, Guimareas, Gent, Trabzonspor, AZ

Plus 5 more (non)champions that didn't make it to the CL will move let's say Slovan Bratislava, Dudelange, Ludogorets, Astana, Ferencvaros.

so the reduction 48->32 is at teh cost of 8 teams out of top 15 and 8 teams from below top 15.

I also did a quick check for 2018/2019.
In there there were 5 non champions from outside top-15 that played EL and 6 top-10 non champions that currently qualified, but would go to Conference League in '21. That would bring 5 worst Champions to also move to Conference league.

Generic speaking it is about 6 chanpions from countries 16-> that will qualify to the new EL.
Looking at it it seems that
about 16 teams will qualify from the top-9
about 10 teams from 10-15
and 6 teams from 16->

GS will not be as easy to predict/pass as current.



A pity teams like Atalanta still would play CL

Atalanta earned the UCL Qualification in the field, finishing 3rd after a 38-game run!!

And Club Brugge finished second after the 40 games in Belgium. Going by your logic, they should have been awarded a group stages place, instead of having to play four extra games to get that very spot.

The domestic league is quite different from UEFA competitions. Inter have won all six games in the Serie A, but only have one point from two games in the Champions League. Similarly, Atalanta have been superb in Serie A thus far, yet they lost both of their first two Champions League games. Ajax were superb in the Eredivisie last season, topping the 34 game run, winning the Beker, and reaching the Champions League semifinal. They played a ton more football than Atalanta, and accomplished a lot more. Therefore, they should have been awarded a direct spot, right?

My point simply is, just to say that Atalanta finished third after 38 games last season doesn't exactly mean that they 'earned' their spot. Many teams have done much better than them and still had to play qualifying round football

[EarlofBug]

Is it certain that there will be a third cup? How many people will watch this cup matches? for us, coefficient lovers, this cup will be interesting, but I think that most people will not be interested in such a cup, and It won't be financially stable.

[Firnen]

Is it certain that there will be a third cup? How many people will watch this cup matches? for us, coefficient lovers, this cup will be interesting, but I think that most people will not be interested in such a cup, and It won't be financially stable.

It can be interesting because it may be a chanche for clubs from non big 4 countries to win European titles. There will only be one team from the big 4 (the 7th), no Portuguese/Dutch giants too, so it will be quite open.

[Yvadha]

I remain firm with my very humble opinion:
The champions of UECL should play in UCL GS for the following year.

They are CHAMPIONS after all.