Please Explain The UEFA

We look forward to another summer of soccer trolling as we approach Euro 2012.

 

Understanding the nature of European soccer has been a longtime frustration for me and I have to say, this thread, thus far, only gives me a better idea of what I don't understand. I'm still waiting for someone to explain it to me clearly, but making this the first sentence of the explanation: "OK, you've got every single soccer team in Europe."

It appears to me that, over here, franchises are so clearly members of a league — NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL — but over there, it's almost as though the teams are free agents (makes me wonder how contracts are worked out, because what, exactly, is a season?) I also wonder, to the hardcore Liverpool or Manchester City or Tottenham fan, what's the bigger deal, winning the English Premier League or winning the Champions League (which really isn't a league, but a tournament)?

Like, didn't Chelsea just win the equivalent of the NIT, back when the NIT was a bigger deal than the NCAA Tournament. (I'm only trying to be kind of silly)

And, of course, isn't there some feature that works like so: if the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles (this season notwithstanding) were English soccer teams, they wouldn't even be in the premier league at this moment; after so many losing seasons, they would have dropped a rung (or two) and had to work their way back up, because, in essence, minor league teams can become major league teams in a premier league landscape. Or am I wrong about that?

I should say, the reason I want to understand it is that I enjoy soccer. So, when I turn on the TV and something's on from Europe, I want to know the context in which the game is being played. Context is everything. But it's never clear to me. It's hardly ever clear what it is I'm really watching.

 

Really cheap shot. I truly wanted to understand and thankfully the majority provided solid information.

 

Here's the access list for the 2013 Europa Cup. It has how many entries each country has, who the entries are (Cup Winner, League runner-up, etc.) and what round they come into the competition. Don't think the one for the Champions League is out yet.
It's a short turnaround time, though, as the draw is scheduled for June 25 and the tournaments start July 5.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2013/accesslist/index.html

 

The Euro Championship 2012 is different yet, and the FA Cup is another thing entirely.

 

Stop trying to find comparisons to American sports. Once you do that, it becomes easier to grasp.

 

I think that for the top teams, the Champions League is the ultimate, even if it is a bit more of a crap shoot than the 32-38 game league season.

For a team like Man City, given that they haven't won the league title in 40 or so years, that certainly is a major accomplishment and one which makes any season a stunning success. But even a team like Man United, which has won the EPL more than anyone else, I think that they find their inability to win more than 2 Big Cup titles in the modern era to be a slight stain on their legacy and they really tried to adjust their roster to keep up with Barcelona (although I'm still not convinced that Messi would do well on a rainy Tuesday night in Stoke).

The group stages of the Champions League can be a bit boring, because usually the best teams cruise through the next knockout rounds (although teams like Man city and Man United didn't make it through this year). But when you get to the final 16, you usually have the top teams from Germany, Italy, Spain and England still around. Absent a favorable draw, you need to beat 3 or 4 of the best of the best to win it all.

 

So how many possible championships could a team participate in within one season?

What would be the order of importance?

 

I would guess winning the Champions League is first. It's a tournament every European team can win.

Second, the domestic league. Third, the domestic cup. Fourth, Europa League.

 

The Euro championship is contested between countries, like a World Cup. Very big deal.

The FA Cup is an all-England knockout tournament for pro teams of every size.

I'll let the board experts fill in the rest, but would ask this: Has any team in history has ever won the Premiership, UEFA and FA Cup in a single season?

 

No. Man United won the treble -- EPL, Champs League and FA Cup in 1999.

But no one has done it with the UEFA Cup. I think that Liverpool won the UEFA Cup and FA Cup in 2000 or 2001, but I don't think that any other English teams was won the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) in the EPL era.