The Europa League: Friend Or Foe

By: Steven | October 23rd, 2009

With 25% of the season gone, maybe it’s time to start talking about things that were said at the kick off. It is (and always was) clear that we were never going to be challenging for the scudetto this season. I still blame Zenga for saying that, as it was clearly a contributor to our terrible start. The ‘real’ objective (the board’s objective) is the Champions League. Right now, we’re not far away from a CL-spot, but of course there’s still an awful lot of games to be played. Starting with the hellish trio that is coming up in the following weeks. The CL would be awesome though: lots of money, lots of exposure and a better FIFA ranking.

But…if it were up to me, I’d take the Europa League over the CL this season. And here’s why: this team isn’t CL-material. Three new quality players won’t make this team CL-material. Sure, the money would come in handy, but we’re sure to end up dead last in our group. And that is IF we pass the preliminary rounds. CL doesn’t like Cinderella stories. Go figure what that will do to the confidence of guys like Pastore and Cavani.

Second, as we would be the least prolific team in the group, we’re sure to get three big ones. Think Real-Manchester City-Sporting-Palermo. No way you’re gonna advance there, not even third place. And playing Real on wednesday is really gonna fuck up your sunday match against Bologna. The Chievo Case, as it is called since three seasons ago.

No, I’ll gladly take fifth or sixth this year. Keep the biggest part of the team together, add two experienced guys and a talented youngster and give them a season to get some European experience. If that works out (and we don’t fuck up in Serie A), you can try to aim for the CL the season after that. Is the Europa League a gift? It could be. The UEFA Cup wasn’t: 70% of the teams came from places where they still fuck their daughters in the ass, and the 5-team format was a joke. Now, you get to play bigger teams, which means more money, no frozen stadiums and more experience. On the other hand, if you’re in a group with the likes of Villarreal, Red Bull Salzburg and Benfica, there’s no guarantee that you will get past the group stages. And there’s still the chance of fucking things up big time in Serie A. Example? Genoa.

So, what do you think? Should we choose the slow way and aim for the EL, or should we try three steps at a time and settle for nothing but CL?