In response to a request from our very own Dr. Zeius, I'm beginning a brief "tutorial" on the subject of European football. Since the UEFA Champions League has been the focus of recent posts, I figure that this tournament is as good a place as any to commence a lesson on the sport.
Unfortunately, as the good doctor has probably noticed, the organizational set-up of European football leagues and their various tournaments can be very difficult for an American to understand (I don't claim to get all of the several "coefficients" that determine eligibility to compete in them), especially in contrast to our relatively straightforward systems of regular season-playoffs-championship format. To begin with, there is no American-style playoff format in European football per se. Each country has its own professional football league, loosely administered by UEFA---the governing body for Euro football. The more highly-regarded leagues are (in no particular order) England's Premiere League, Spain's Liga Primera (La Liga), Italy's Serie A, France's Ligue 1, Germany's Bundesliga 1, Portugal's Liga, and the Netherlands' Eredivisie. In a sense, each of these leagues is more "democratic" than, say, baseball's Major Leagues, in that there are several lower-tier leagues in each country that compete each year to reach the top league, providing a form of "upward mobility." Since herodotus, Vox Inferus, and myself tend to be more interested in the English Premier League, I will use it as a case study here.
England has four professional leagues directly beneath the Premier League (think of them in terms of Minor League baseball---AAA, AA, and A), with more small-scale conferences below them. The Premier League, set up in 1993 as a reorganization of all the club teams in the country under the Football Association (FA), fields twenty teams each year. The three teams which finish last each year are relegated to the Championship League---one tier down (AAA), and the top two Championship teams, along with the winner of a playoff, ascend to the Premiership...and so on through the ranks of the lower divisions. Each year's champion is simply the team which finishes atop the standings with the most points (each team plays each of the other nineteen twice throughout the season---once at home and once away). There is no playoff tournament, no championship match. There is, however, the FA Cup tournament, which roughly coincides with the football season, August to May. I don't quite understand the rules for the calculations or "coefficients" which qualify teams for this competition, but suffice it to say that MANY teams are invited. Last year, a record 687 teams entered the knockout tournament from all the various tiers. To further confuse matters, there is also the annual League Cup tournament, which allows only the top 92 teams (from the top four leagues); although the oldest competition in European football, it is less prestigious and less popular than the FA Cup. The lower-tier leagues also feature their own annual tournaments. The League Cup is a bit of an aberration in European club football, in that most country's leagues feature only one top-tier cup tournament; as you might have guessed, it is a vestige of more than a century of organization, reorganization, and consolidation of the leagues (think of it as incompletions in the NFL-AFL merger, only more than a century old and including Arena Football leagues and the XFL). Obviously, the pinnacle each team aims for each year is to win both the League championship and the FA Cup.
I have described how European football can be seen as more "democratic," through its "upward mobility." The way in which it is more "undemocratic" than American sports is that each country's professional league is typically dominated by only three or so teams. For Spain, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia tend to finish each year atop the standings. In Italy, it is (AC) Milan, Juventus, Internazionale (Inter Milan), and lately, Roma. In the Netherlands, Ajax (Amsterdam), PSV (Eindhoven), and Feyenoord (Rotterdam). The German Bundesliga is perennially dominated by one team, Bayern München. The Premier League features probably four top teams (Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and lately, Chelsea), along with Tottenham Hotspur and Everton finishing toward the bottom of the top teams each year. There is no salary cap in European football, and, as a result, only a handful of teams ever win the top competitions. Now, the Champions League...
The Champions League is an annual competition--the most prestigious European international---that features the top professional teams (from the previous year) from all of the European leagues. In the fall, most of the teams from smaller-scale national leagues (Greek, Russian, Turkish, Romanian, et al) duke it out in the early rounds to qualify for the group rounds, where the field is narrowed to 32. This format should be familiar to followers of the World Cup: a round-robin is played within the eight groups, and the top two teams from each group advance to the elite Champions League Round of 16. These games are played in late February and early March in two legs, one at home and one away. The winner is determined by the higher aggregate score, and ties go to the team which scores more goals away. If that is not enough to break the tie, the second game plays into extra periods until a winner emerges. The same format applies to the quarterfinals and semifinals. The final is played at a predetermined stadium (this year at Olympic Stadium in Athens), and is European football's version of the Super Bowl. We have just finished this year's quarterfinals, and three English teams have advanced to the semis: Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea. The fourth team is (AC) Milan. The semifinals will begin at the end of April, and the final is played on May 23.
Again, to further confuse matters, UEFA administers the UEFA Cup, a tournament featuring---generally---the runners-up from all of the top European national leagues and some of the champions from the lower-ranked leagues. And again, I don't know how the qualifications for this tournament are determined, exactly. Furthermore, club teams---usually in the summer off-season---will play exhibition matches against other international club teams and even against some national teams. The winners of the Champions League and the UEFA Cup play each other every year in August for the European Super Cup, a relatively minor event. Japan used to host (1980-2004) the Intercontinental Cup, played between the Champions League winner and the Copa Libertadores (South America's international club tournament) winner. This has since been replaced by the FIFA Club World Cup, which features 12 teams, the top two clubs from each of the six continental associations. It has not yet, however, gained much popularity in Europe. The Reverend Sun Myung Moon has recently established a biannual Peace Cup, and there are all kinds of other competitions and cups.
So, here it all is in a nutshell...the Champions League is the most sought-after championship in European football. Its only international rival is the South American Copa Libertadores. Manchester United, in its celebrated 1998-9 season, secured the unprecedented "Treble," in winning the Premier League Championship, the FA Cup, and the Champions League all in the same season. This is the loftiest goal for all English clubs, and is paralleled in all of the other top national leagues. Listed are the five most prestigious championships in international football (nos. 2-5 in disputable order):
1. FIFA World Cup---national teams, every four years
2. UEFA Euro Cup---European national teams, every four years between World Cup Years (2004, 2008, etc.)
3. CONMEBOL Copa América---South American and some North and Central American teams, every two, three, or four years (don't ask!) (the U.S. will be participating in this year's tournament)
4. UEFA Champions League---annual club competition for European professional teams
5. CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores---annual club competiton for South American professional teams
I will leave the task of elaborating on specific teams and players to herodotus and Vox Inferus, although I hope the latter refrains from propaganda (Liverpool is generally favored by Catholics and Celts). I hope this helps somewhat to dissipate some of the mystery surrounding the organizational labyrinth that is European football, and perhaps it will enable one or two readers to more easily engage what is really a very enjoyable and exciting sport.
(Anyone, please feel free to apply graphics liberally---stupid Blogspot-Apple incompatibility!)
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6 comments:
How did I know it would be unnecessarily complicated and accommodating to all involved?...
Still though, I really do enjoy watching good soccer. I absolutely love the World Cup and could see myself really getting into Euro footbol as well.
One problem is that I do not live in Europe and thus have no reason to from an allegiance to any particular team. I think if I found some reason to pull for one team above all others it would stir my interest in what goes on corporately.
I can say off the bat that said team definitely could not come France and most likely from neither Germany nor Spain as well. I would tend toward an English team, but have no reason to prefer one over the other. I am obviously familiar with Man-U due to the ridiculous press they get, even over here, but I would be more likely to pick a “lesser of these” team…They probably stink, but off the top of my head, I would be inclined to pull for a Newcastle team if only for the richest blessing they have bestowed upon us all (Protestant and Catholic alike).
Thanks for the lesson. Now I’ll have to sort through it all.
By the way,the "unnecessarily complicated and accommodatng to all involved" bit was in reference to the Euro organizational pathos, not your explanation of it.
Your post was actually very poignant and informative.
cheers.
testud: good form. great post...and nicely managed...as there is really no way for a yank to truly finish the maze, as it were, of euro championship organization.
dr. z- two things:
1. i became a fan forever while in ecuador. i met a group of brits traveling the continent...during the euro 2000...and watched a number of games with them.
2. as for choosing a team...this definitely helps one move from passive to active interest. for me, liverpool is the default team of choice, as i can't stand manchester united(not for their success, but for their current players) and, as i was told by the brits(well, all except one who was from chelsea)..."choose any team you want friend...just not chelsea...unless you're a ponce like this bloke..."...as a result, i hate chelsea...and always will....cause you know what...he was kind of a ponce.
She insulted my town...
she insulted my son...
she insulted my authority...
...and that ain't nothing but pure old-fashioned Communism.
Zeius,
Let me offer you the greatest European club, not affiliated with any racist or bigotted hooligan group, rarely political, often surpassing all other premiership teams in its signing of ENGLISH players (unlike the bastardized pentioneers from West London), and generally a wholesome, workingman's club. LIV-ERP-OOL LIVERPOOL FC!
However, the choice is yours!
You should steer clear of the following however since if you were to support any of them I would morn your loss as a respectable gentleman.
1. Chelsea, aka chelski, aka *@#%&$
Think of all things overly-posh, all things Earl Court (fruity)...the Georgia Tech of the EPL...I knew that would do it!
2. Everton: If you could afford a lincoln, why buy a YUGO? If you want a Merseyside team, why the hell choose Everton?
3. Manchester City: Two words, Liam Galliger...enough said...also Carolina Blue uni's...
4.Finally, Manchester United: You are right about the press. You should steer clear of MAN U primarily to avoid being confused with a teenaged soccer fan who knows no other club, and secondly, Christiano Rinaldo, who is second only to Greg Louganis in diving.
Newcastle United is not a bad choice, you could not be called a bandwagoneer since they have a rather exclusive following, mostly working class, and have of late had poor luck.
Cheers.
Vox Inferus, that kind of propaganda I'll take any day! More Gervais than Goebbels. Zeius, I wish you all the best in a search for a team of your own. The Premier League is a good place to start, as the Brits are, after all, our cousins in a sense---and not the kind you would have to tolerate any Jeff Foxworthy jokes about. Also, keep in mind that Liverpool's anthem is a Rodgers & Hammerstein standard, first popularized by Old Blue Eyes himself, as opposed to a ridiculous Sheena Easton tune. If Man U should ever switch to "Sugar Walls," however...
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