The UEFA Europa League is a national league cup competition, sanctioned by the Union of European Football Associations. It is the fourth most attended club competition in Europe, with more than five million spectators tuning in each year. The competition is divided into three groups of four and is played between the top ten teams from the respective leagues. An extra round of matches, called the Intertoto Super Cup, is also conducted as part of the competition. This is the only major international competition apart from the World Cup that features all the teams that make up the top leagues of world football.
During the 2021/10 season, the UEFA Champions League was brought to a halt due to the FIFA World Cup fever. This left only three teams in the competition – Arsenal, Manchester United and Schalke – who qualified automatically, leaving only PSV Eindhoven and Sevilla in the qualifying tournament. The remaining sides had to win their respective domestic cups in order to qualify for the competition. This made the competition much harder and gave it a tough edge, especially for the favorites, Arsenal, who did not manage to win a single game during the whole campaign.
The format of the tournament is quite similar to the other major European clubs competitions. For the group stage, the first four clubs are arranged in a qualifying pool. These four teams are then placed in the same groups of four in the cup competition, with the fourth placed teams getting the “groups” slot for the tournament. Then, the playoffs will be held in a four-round tournament, with the finals being played on an ordinary rectangular track, rather than the usual pitch. The venue for the competition is decided based on the nations who have qualification for the tournament.
Each team gets three points for every game they win, and just two points for losing games. The winner of the competition becomes the european champions, and earn a place at the FIFA world cup in Japan. After these stages, the seeded teams get to play against other teams from the same league in the knockout rounds. These knockout rounds are played in a single manner, with the teams playing each other once and then the teams that advance from the group stages playing the other team once. When the playoffs begin, the teams play each other until the teams reach five players, where the winner is the one that wins the cup.
From the above description, it can be seen that the qualification procedure of the EUROPA LEAGUE is quite similar to the format used in the English Premier League. There are only two phases available for the participants in the competition, and the format is also different. Unlike the EPL, there is no knock-out stage in the EFL. The teams start the season by competing in the leagues in their respective countries, and then they progress to the knock-out stage.
The current standings of the teams are also not certain as they depend on the results of the games. The best teams are awarded with the highest ranking points, while the other teams qualify based on their performance. The rankings of the teams are determined beforehand using a fair draw process, so there is no doubt about who will be on top when the season starts. This season will be an exciting one as the best teams from Europe will battle it out for the title of the European champions.