Opinion
The inaugural season of UEFA’s third club-based competition is reaching the penultimate stage with the first leg of the semi-finals, as Leicester City play AS Roma and Feyenoord play Marseille.
This gives me the chance to look back and judge whether its addition to the sphere of European-based club competitions has been successful as it was envisioned by UEFA executives.
When the tournament was announced in December 2018, it was known as UEFA Europa League 2.
Many saw it as an attempt to appease smaller national associations who had felt ignored by UEFA.
This comp offered these administrations the opportunity for their clubs to play in Europe.
It also meant that these clubs had a chance of going deep into the knockout stage instead of being knocked out in qualifying for either the Champions League or Europa League.
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said as much, saying the Conference League was designed “to give clubs and fans the chance to dream and compete for European honours”.
When looking at the team list from the group stage, it is evident that teams that were being perennially knocked out in qualifiers of both the Champions and Europa League were finally having the ability to play in the group stage of a major competition.
Clubs like Alashkert (Armenia), Bodo/Glimt (Norway), Flora (Estonia), Kairat (Kazakhstan), Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) and Mura (Slovenia) all made their debut group-stage appearances in a UEFA club competition.
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Clubs like and Maccabi Haifa (Israel) and Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) made the group stage of a UEFA club competition for the first time in nine and 13 years respectively.
While these clubs had finally made a group-stage appearance, they were clearly outshone by other experienced teams in the form of Italian giants AS Roma and the Netherlands’ Feyenoord.
Only Bodo/Glint managed to get into the knockout-round play-offs. The Norwegian team were knocked out by AS Roma in the quarter-finals.
Teams that usually have their European campaigns end in qualifying are now getting regular European football.
But the fear that surrounded the Europa League during its revamp in 2009 could have a similar if not far worse effect on the Europa Conference League.
These are the teams knocked out from the competition above going into the knockout stage.
With the Conference League’s addition, it now provides a safety net for teams that finish third in the Europa League.
It gives them an opportunity to also have a deep run in the knockout stage.
When looking at Europa League finalists from 2009, 41.66 per cent of all Europa League finalists had come from the Champions League and during its first five years, it was 60 per cent.
(Photo by Federico Gambarini/picture alliance via Getty Images)
This demonstrates the impact that Champions League heavyweights such as Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Benfica, and Sevilla had when joining the Europa League.
In many cases, just their presence alone would win ties with ease.
With an even weaker crop of teams, this dominance that Europa League teams could and most likely will have in the play-offs, round of 16, and quarter-finals will be far more pronounced in the Conference League than it ever was in the Europa League.
This could stifle the development of smaller teams that are just entering the European landscape like the Lincoln Red Imps or Flora.
It is also barely being paid attention to by football fans, if at all.
This could be even more damaging for the longevity of the competition.
Despite the good it is doing by allowing more and more teams from smaller countries to be involved in European competitions, if the expenses to run the competition outweigh the profits, then it will be harder for UEFA to justify continuing the competition.
It has only been one season, but there appears to be an appetite for three European club competitions, albeit small.
The Europa Conference League can be successful.
But to be able to create the success, it will need the backing beyond this three-year cycle after 2024 to allow the competition to develop in its showcasing of some of the best football clubs in some of Europe’s smaller countries.
This should lead to an increase of following and viewership of the tournament.
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