Almost half the Premier League could be playing European football next season. When European competitions are dominated by a handful of leagues, they begin to look like a Super League in disguise.
In the space of 10 days, the finals of the three European club football competitions will take place with the common denominator that each will feature an English club. That has never happened before and in isolation is an impressive feat.
On Wednesday, May 20, Aston Villa take on Freiburg in the Europa League final. On Wednesday, May 27, Crystal Palace face Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final. And on Saturday, May 30, Arsenal play PSG in the Champions League final.
It is the first time that England has had a representative in all three UEFA finals and just the sixth time that any country has had a team in each of them in the same year. On its own, this could be viewed as impressive, yet when it comes to the Premier League, there is a sense of inevitability about it.
English riches cause an imbalance
The English Premier League is by far and away the richest football league in Europe and when relegation fodder teams can pay salaries higher than the top teams in most other countries, it is easy to see why many critics claim the Super League already exists.
If Crystal Palace win the Conference League next week, it will be the third time in its five-year history that the new third-tier competition has been won by an English side. It almost seems perverse that clubs with Premier League money are allowed to enter such a tournament.
While cup competitions can throw up unexpected one-off results, the wealth of even lower-table clubs in England makes them a mismatch for most clubs outside the top few in other countries. Rayo making the final has some romance to it, albeit they are still from a big-five league, but Palace’s presence is somewhat inevitable.
England could have nine teams in Europe next season
If Palace win their final, it will give them a ticket to next season’s Europa League, even though they cannot finish the season higher than 14th in the Premier League. This scenario would also mean that England have nine representatives in European competitions next season.
Nine teams is almost half the league, which makes a mockery of the very concept of European competitions. It should be the best teams from every country competing, not half the richest league hogging all the spots.
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It’s not just England, of course; the other major nations are also overrepresented. For example, in last season’s Champions League league phase, 22 of the 36 teams came from the top five leagues: England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France. As a reminder, UEFA has 55 member associations, so the other 50 leagues had to share just 14 spots in Europe’s premier club competition.
This naturally creates a vicious cycle where the rich get richer and the teams from smaller nations are pushed further and further away from any chance of competing. Even aside from notions of fairness and equality, this reality quite simply distorts what European club football is supposed to be.
When European competitions are dominated by a handful of leagues, they begin to look like a Super League in disguise, rather than an open-access event for the best representatives of every nation. While next season the Premier League will have up to six automatic Champions League spots, if Aston Villa win the Europa League, the champions of every nation outside the top 10 leagues have to go through qualifying, several rounds of it in some cases.
European football needs a rethink to be worthy of the name
European football would be healthier and more competitive if the places were shared more evenly. A return to champions only in the ironically-named Champions League might be too radical a proposal, but surely there is some middle ground to be found between that and the top five leagues having 22 of 36 spaces, which leads to fans bemoaning all-too familiar match-ups every season.
A more democratic Champions League would result in a more diverse European football eco-system and in turn a more exciting and unpredictable tournament. And perhaps for the time being, the big five leagues shouldn’t have any Conference League places.
European football should be a celebration of the entire continent, pitching clubs from all over Europe against each other in fresh encounters that capture the imagination. The current setup is a farce and urgently needs a rethink if it is to resemble a sporting competition and not simply a money-making machine.
What needs to happen for England to have nine teams in Europe?
Normally, England would have seven teams in European club competitions: four in the Champions League, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference League. However, for next year they are one of the beneficiaries of the European Performance Spots, which awards an extra Champions League place to the two top performing nations the previous year.
That would normally mean the top five in the Premier League get a direct ticket to the Champions League, but if Aston Villa win the Europa League, their place would be passed down to sixth in the league as the Europa League winners earn Champions League qualification.
The potential ninth spot overall could come about if Crystal Palace win the Conference League as they would pick up a bonus Europa League spot, despite finishing well outside the European places in the league, and their place would not be at the expense of anyone else.
