The Europa League is better than the Champions League: My Column

I've always wanted to put this thought to paper. I enjoy, to a much higher degree, the UEFA Europa League to the Champions League. This may be blasphemy in the mind of fans of the sport, but I'm right and I will prove to you why. I will not make this argument about the level of football that is played in each because it's not even a contest in that regard. If you want to watch the best players in the world play the best football, you watch the Champions League, no questions asked. However if you and your love for the beautiful game sits anywhere below obsessed/football tough guy, the Europa League is where you want to live. If you are new to football and just want to quickly learn about europe, I believe the Europa League is better in accomplishing that goal.

Point one: watching the Europa League, you are basically playing a game of where in the world is Carmen San Diego while watching football. This competition has clubs with names you do not understand from places you did not know existed. A quick look to some of the entries in this year's group stage: FC Sheriff, Skenderbeu, Young Boys (problematic), Apollon Limassol. FC FCSB just to name a few. That last side is just consonance. Not single vowel in the team name. Not a one. If you know where more than 50% of teams play their home matches you are a liar of epic proportions. By watching these matches, you get to see places of the world you didn't know existed with fans that didn't know cameras existed. Its europe's grandest social experiment.

Point 2: you still get some very good sides in the competition. Although there are teams that seemingly did not exist two years ago playing in this competition, you also get some really strong sides. This year, we have Arsenal, Everton, Villarreal, Nice, Lazio, Lyon, Athletic Bilbao all playing in the group stages. The competition gets even better when clubs are parachuted down from the Champions League after the group stages. You get some clubs like Celtic and Roma joining the fray making the round of 32 knockouts some really enticing stuff. Past winners of the competition are Sevilla, Porto, Man United, and Atletico Madrid. It may not be the Champions League but there are heavy hitters involved for sure.

Point 3: There are roughly one million games per match night. You have tuesday and wednesday for the Champions League. 32 teams split playing over two nights. Europa League? 48 sides playing all on one night. It is an absolute glut of games. This is the magic point for most casual fans, it is fun as fuck to bet on the Europa League. You can do all the ACCAs (parlays) you could dream of on a Thursday night. Some of my favorite nights betting on football have come from the Europa League because you are betting on teams or number of goals for teams you couldn't name a single starter on. Its life on the wild side and that gets the average fan/bettor going.

Point 4: If you are American, you need to support the competition because by doing so you are then supporting one of the greatest American players in our history, Clint Dempsey. Hear me out on this one. In 2010, Clint Dempsey was playing in the Europa League Quarter-finals with Fulham against Juventus. The Old Lady dominated the first leg to a 3-0 result and had the return leg at the Craven Cottage to manage to progress as they probably should have. If you don't know this match, Clint Dempsey and his Fulham side scored 5, count'em 5 goals with the American scoring one of the better goals the competition will ever see to have Fulham take the lead on aggregate and advance. They lost in the finals that year but this goal will live in the echos of the Europa League for a long time.

If you are an American soccer fan, you love this competition just for this goal. Clint Dempsey, take a bow my son. Europa League = Proud American. Math doesn't lie.

For now, I like to think I converted some of you to the madness of Thursday nights in Europe. It's a mocked night in Europe but as a casual fan, you will enjoy the hell out of it.

Alright, bye for now. Champions League starts in 30 min.